Clearly, the Odell Beckham – Josh Norman narrative is inaccurate.

The New York Giants receiver actually bests the Washington Redskins cornerback in head-to-head match-ups. That much appears to be factual according to the football evaluation site, Pro Football Focus.

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Now, one Beckham – Norman narrative has been that Norman is garbage. Simply put, I’m no fan of trash-talking cornerbacks (see Sherman, Richard), so this may be my only defense of Norman ever. Statistically, Norman ranks as a top 5 corner in the league.

In fact, along with Sherman, Norman likely belongs as one of the top 3 cornerbacks in the NFL. Who is the third you ask? That would be Chris Harris of the Denver Broncos.

The other narrative is that Norman’s bully tactics have thrown Beckham off his game. Think again.

PFF took a peak at Norman’s productivity against NFC East receivers recently.

Beckham v. Norman Head-to-Head

A primary reason the Washington Redskins signed Norman was to deal with Beckham. NFL teams usually do not like to admit that they adjust to players and teams, but that’s just good business sense. And scheme means nothing if you don’t have the horses.

Was Steve Spagnuolo that much better last season?

Beckham’s production against Norman actually goes against the grain of what the Sunday morning shows usually opine about. Actual statistical measurement makes for boring television. Former players dominate the airwaves, so they blather about how they did things.

There’s also a reason they are former players at this point. Likely they are old, fat, slow and don’t scare anyone.

When it comes to the Beckham – Norman challenge, here’s what PFF has to say:

“On 19 career targets against Norman, Beckham totals 12 receptions, 146 yards, and one touchdown. For Beckham’s standards that’s good. For Norman’s standards, this is unbelievable. Over the past three seasons, no other wide receiver with at least five targets against Norman sports a WR rating over 82.5 This stat line equates to a 104.3 WR Rating for Beckham.”

Bringing Norman into the NFC East was shrewd by the ‘Skins. Reacting to a once in a generation talent like Beckham makes pure football sense. And even though Beckham far outpaces Norman statistically, the difference might be greater against other CBs.

Macho ex-players would never admit that Beckham dominates Norman. In their minds, they were physical beasts who always imposed their will against opposing players. These guys need to get over themselves. Right now, Beckham has the upper hand, and it’s time for Norman to admit intimidation doesn’t work.