The Dallas Cowboys’ toughest task on Sunday will be stopping Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson. He won’t slow the Cowboys’ passing game; Dallas will have to deal with Peterson’s electrifying punt return ability. The Cowboys have been awful in punt coverage this season, ranking 21st in the NFL this season. On the flip side, Peterson single-handedly has the Cardinals’ punt return unit ranked 2nd.
Peterson has taken four punts back for touchdowns this season, all from beyond 80 yards. Not only is his performance record-breaking, but Peterson’s ability to greatly alter field position changes games dramatically.
The Cowboys haven’t given up any touchdowns on punt returns this season, but field position is a battle Dallas doesn’t want to face. Even if Cowboys punter Mat McBriar can get a high, deep punt deep Cardinals territory, Peterson can easily take it back across the 50-yard line if not all the way. That would make the Cardinals’ offensive task so much easier. Thus, Peterson is the Cardinals’ biggest weapon in this game and that’s why he wasn’t mentioned in the five reasons why the Cowboys will win this game.
Those reasons all point to Dallas’ favor in this contest. However, Peterson alone can undo almost all of them. Great offense and defense by the Cowboys can be made completely obsolete if the Cardinals star rookie piles up some punt return yardage on Sunday.
There’s no doubt Cowboys special teams coach Joe Decamillis will have his guys completely focused on Peterson throughout the game. The smart thing would be to punt the ball out of bounds each time Peterson lines up to return, but that may not be the route Decamillis takes. Regardless, the Cowboys can let the Cardinals either back in the game and allow them to stay in the game with poor punt coverage.
Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones had a chance to trade cornerback Terence Newman to the Cardinals for the No. 5 overall pick in this year’s NFL draft to take Peterson. Jones didn’t pull the trigger on that deal and now the Cowboys will have to deal with Peterson in this golden opportunity of a game.
Indeed, Dallas can take a two-game lead in the NFC East with a win and an assumed loss for the New York Giants against the undefeated Green Bay Packers. The impact of special teams on an NFL game hasn’t been stressed like this since the Chicago Bears were in the Super Bowl against the Indianapolis Colts five years ago. The Cowboys will have to play all out in all three phases of the game to win.
Follow Jeric Griffin on Twitter @JericGriffin
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