An extra bit of attention was always going to be on Minnesota Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson in his first game in Arizona since leaving the Cardinals.
But from a strict perspective on just the game, if there was anyone to spotlight defensively on the Cardinals’ first touchdown of the afternoon on Sunday against Minnesota, it was Peterson.
On 3rd-and-10 from the Vikings’ 15-yard line in the red zone, Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray didn’t have any initial options when he looked downfield.
From there, Murray improvised, looking to scramble right before turning around and heading left.
That is the side of the field where Arizona’s DeAndre Hopkins was being covered by Peterson, and as Murray spun out to go left, so did Hopkins.
That crossed up Peterson, who looked like he was ready for Hopkins to keep heading toward the center of the end zone.
Instead, Hopkins went toward the pylon, and Murray found him wide open for the touchdown.
That K1 to Nuk connection 🔥@K1 x @DeAndreHopkins pic.twitter.com/80OelN4AM1
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 19, 2021
The dots tell the tale of Peterson losing track of the one guy not to lose track of in the Cardinals passing game.
Murray to Hopkins dots! Love seeing Murray spin out of the pocket.
(NFL Next Gen Stats) pic.twitter.com/Tlujk76sN8
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) September 19, 2021
A handful of folks tuning in appeared to enjoy Peterson getting beat on the play.
I enjoyed watching #7 get beat for the TD
— John Gambadoro (@Gambo987) September 19, 2021
Patrick Peterson even in the same zip code on that Hopkins TD?
— Danny Shapiro (@DannyShapiro13) September 19, 2021
Hopkins 1, Peterson 0
— Dan Bickley (@danbickley) September 19, 2021
DeAndre Hopkins scoring a touchdown on Patrick Peterson pic.twitter.com/ESDynm48FR
— Cody Fincher (@Bear987FM) September 19, 2021
The Cardinals beat the Vikings 34-33.
