The last time Patrick Peterson played his old team in the Arizona Cardinals, he was a member of the Minnesota Vikings.
During the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Peterson and the Vikings played the Cardinals. Though he never came up with an interception in his battles against his former team, Peterson helped the Vikings go 1-1 in the matchup, recording three pass breakups in a 34-26 win last season.
Now, after leaving the Cardinals as a free agent in March 2021, Peterson will play the Cardinals for the third season in a row, this time as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
He’s aiming to have another strong game just to show the Cardinals that he can still play after they decided to let him walk. Appearing on the GoJo and Golic show Friday on DraftKings, Peterson said that he doesn’t have any added fuel to the fire playing the Cardinals, but he still wants to have one of his best games of the season.
“You always wanna put a good performance against your previous team, so yeah, I wanna have a great game Sunday,” Peterson said to Mike Golic Jr. and Mike Golic Sr., according to video via the DraftKings’ YouTube page. “It’s nothing against those guys, but there are some plays that I feel that I could make coming Sunday, and I won’t necessarily say there’s gonna be any added fire or any fuel or anything like that.
“I just wanna make sure that I play one of my best games all year and just show ’em that I still can play.”
Peterson was selected by the Cardinals in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft at No. 5 overall coming out of LSU. After landing in Arizona, Peterson turned into one of the best cornerbacks in the league, earning eight straight trips to the Pro Bowl and three first-team All-Pro accolades, recording 28 interceptions during his time in the desert.
But, at the age of 30 the Cardinals decided it was time to move on.
So, Peterson spent two years in Minnesota and is now in his first season with the Steelers. He has 30 tackles and one interception on the season, including a 60.5 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, as well as a 61.6 in coverage. He’s allowed 29 receptions on 50 targets for 377 yards and four touchdowns.
He’ll get a crack at the Cardinals and quarterback Kyler Murray again.
Peterson made some interesting comments Monday in his “All Things Covered” podcast with cousin and former Steelers cornerback Bryant McFadden, stating Murray has to be kept in the pocket because he wasn’t blessed with height and struggles from the pocket.
He doubled down on that Friday, too, during his session with the media, according to a tweet from ESPN’s Brooke Pryor.
That’s not exactly false, but it was a comment that raised some eyebrows. He and Murray have some history, too. Peterson was in his final season in Arizona in Murray’s rookie season, and in 2022 when then Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury was fired in the middle of the season, Peterson had some pointed comments for Murray. He said on his podcast that “Kyler Murray don’t care about nobody but Kyler Murray,” which caused Murray to fire back at him.
The two spent one season together, and while Murray viewed him as a mentor, there still appears to at least be some dislike there.
Peterson is going to get the chance to try and make plays against Murray in the passing game, and vice versa. It sure will be interesting to watch.
