Posted by Darren Urban on December 29, 2015 – 11:40 am

Patrick Peterson has had some fun with the idea teams are throwing at him rarely this season. It’s popped up on the cornerback’s social media a few times, the most recent after he rendered Packers wideout Randall Cobb relatively useless last weekend.

Peterson isn’t going to have gaudy stats — he has two interceptions — because he hasn’t had a lot of chances to have the ball come his way. And while any analytics have to be seen with at least some caution (this is film breakdown without all the inside knowledge of what is going on each play), the folks at profootballfocus.com tally up the numbers of cornerbacks around the league, and with one game left, Peterson fares very well in any comparison.

There are, according to PFF, 49 cornerbacks this season that have played at least 75 percent of their team’s defensive snaps. (They include Tyrann Mathieu, for instance, because of how much nickel cornerback he played. Mathieu, in fact, earned PFF’s highest grade overall at CB by a large margin, and also the highest grade in coverage and as a blitzing CB. He was second in run defense.) Here is how Peterson stacks up:

— Fourth in lowest passer rating against (55.5)

— Second in lowest catch percentage allowed (46.8)

— Third in fewest times targeted (62)

— First (tied) for first in fewest receptions allowed (29)

— First in fewest reception yards allowed (335)

And that’s with the 48-yard touchdown scored by the Bears’ Josh Bellamy in Week 2, a play in which Bellamy ran down the field uncovered because Peterson got mixed up and didn’t realize he was supposed to cover Bellamy. That’s the only touchdown Peterson has allowed this season as well.

Again, the numbers might not be exact. Peterson himself noted on Twitter that he might have issue with a couple of catches PFF has put on him. Regardless, it puts something tangible toward the idea 1) Peterson deserves to be in the Defensive Player of the Year discussion and 2) this has unquestionably been Peterson’s finest season on defense. Of this there is no argument.

Tags: Patrick Peterson Posted in Blog