Although Lions-Cardinals is nowhere near the NFL’s best game on Sunday, that game will feature one of the NFL’s best individual matchups when Lions receiver Calvin Johnson is covered by Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson.
In fact, to hear Peterson tell it, the only better individual matchup in all the NFL than Peterson vs. Megatron is the one that happens in Cardinals practice, when Peterson covers teammate Larry Fitzgerald.
“I think I am the best cornerback in the league right now,” Peterson told reporters in a conference call this week. “You know, me and Calvin, we’re the same caliber players.”
But Peterson doesn’t consider Johnson the best receiver in the league right now.
“He’s second in my book behind Larry,” Peterson said.
The Cardinals will surely not leave Peterson one-on-one with Johnson all day on Sunday, but that’s what Peterson says he wants.
“I would like to go one-on-one as much as I can,” Peterson said.
Peterson is one of the NFL’s best young players, but when it comes to going one-on-one against Megatron, he may want to be careful what he wishes for.