Steelers wary of ball-hawking Peters
The Steelers were so enamored with cornerback Marcus Peters heading into the 2015 draft they would have taken him if the Kansas City Chiefs didn’t beat them to the pick four spots earlier.
Twelve interceptions and 52 passes defensed in 19 games later, Peters is justifying the interest shown in him by the Steelers. And, of course, the Chiefs.
“We thought highly of him,” defensive coordinator Keith Butler said. “They got to him before we could.”
Peters, the 18th overall pick in the 2015 draft, is living proof that cornerbacks can indeed catch the ball. After leading the AFC with eight interceptions as a rookie, he has two in each of the past two games for the Chiefs, who lead the league with 10 takeaways. In that time, he also has six passes defensed.
Since he entered the league last season, Peters leads all players in interceptions (12) and passes defensed (52) and has broken up more passes in three games (7) this season than the New York Jets (6) and Jacksonville Jaguars (6) have as a team.
“He catches every ball that is thrown his way,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said during a conference call with Kansas City media. “Offensive guys always make fun of defensive players — they play defense because they can’t catch. Well, he can catch everything. What a phenomenal player.”
Curiously, despite his penchant to intercept passes, Peters has never been used to shadow the other team’s top receiver and always lines on the left side of the Chiefs defense. That means he will be matched against Antonio Brown only on those occasions when the All-Pro receiver lines on the Steelers’ right side.
Brown was targeted 17 times last week against the Philadelphia Eagles and finished with 12 catches for 140 yards. Peters, though, might have to be more worried about Sammie Coates, who has receptions of 41, 42, 44 and 53 yards in three games and leads the league with a per-catch average of 29 yards. Each of his 40-plus-yard receptions have led to scores.
“There will be times we make decisions to work away from him,” said offensive coordinator Todd Haley said. “Talk about good ball skills.When the ball is in the air, he tracks it like a receiver. So when you are running routes over there, you have to be very precise, you have to be very exact in what you’re trying to do and you have to be aggressive to the football.”
And it might not be just Coates. Running back Le’Veon Bell returns after sitting out a three-game suspension and the Steelers will involve him in the passing game, even lining him up as a receiver in some formations. Bell caught 83 passes in 2014 and 24 in six games last season before injuring his knee on Nov. 1.
“It allows us another weapon,” Brown said. “He’s going to help out tremendously, being able to line him up on my side, stack us up together and see if teams leave us 1-on-1 or choose to double me.”