Cardinals’ P2 preps for Bills, matchup with NFL-leading WR Stefon Diggs

The Arizona Cardinals find themselves in a peculiar situation heading into Week 10.

Despite allowing fewer than 250 yards in the air and 100 yards on the ground to Miami on Sunday, the Dolphins still managed to get the 34-31 victory at State Farm Stadium.

Now the AFC East-leading Buffalo Bills (7-2) are coming into town and boast the league’s fourth-best passing attack, while quarterback Josh Allen sits behind only Matt Ryan and Patrick Mahomes for the most passing yards this season with 2,587 through nine games.

“First and foremost is stopping the run. We have to stop the run because when teams are able to run the ball, they feel like they are able to impose their will,” Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson said on the All Things Covered podcast on Tuesday.

“So if we’re able to stop the run and make sure that we continue to give Josh different looks and try to confuse him as best as we can and our offense can put up points as they have been doing thus far throughout the season, it should be an entertaining game that we hopefully can come out on top of.”

The Bills are coming off of a 44-34 win over Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks, who are currently ranked as the NFL’s fourth-best QB and fifth-best passing team in 2020.

“They do a great job of pushing the ball downfield, having a balanced attack,” Peterson said. “So as far as in the passing game, you have to give them different looks. You want to make sure that you’re moving around, showing them something, but give them something else.

“So I believe that will be our point of emphasis this week: making sure that we’re moving around, not manikins and [not giving] Kodak moments where we’re giving him a picture of what we’re going to play.”

As Arizona’s No. 1 corner, Peterson’s responsibility will be to cover Bills WR Stefon Diggs, who leads the league in both catches (63) and yards (813). The All-Pro corner said that depending on the call, he will either be right over the Bills No. 1 wideout in man coverage or on his side of the field when in zone coverage.

“Stefon Diggs is a speed release guy, which is a guy that’s just going to get right to where he needs to go,” Peterson said.

“Nine times out of 10 he’s just going to go to his spot, dip his shoulder so that I can’t press him, see his numbers or try to stack him so that I don’t have an opportunity to get the ball. But with me playing for 10 years, I know the angles it takes so he doesn’t have an opportunity to stack me.”

Peterson also spoke a little bit about his future, as the 30-year-old is in the final year of his current contract with Arizona. The former LSU Tiger has been with the Cardinals the entirety of his professional career after being drafted No. 5 overall in the 2011 NFL Draft and said he doesn’t feel 30 mentally and that physically he feels like he’s 27 years old.

“I feel like I can play at a high level for another four to five years because I do everything off the field to make sure that my body is in great shape,” he said. “I do everything to make sure I’m mentally sharp.”

Peterson added that he may not put $1 million into his body like Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James does, but the CB said he does invest $300,000 into it.

“I see my body as my temple and I see it as an investment,” Peterson explained. “Nine times out of 10, if you invest in something, you’re going to put your heart and soul into it to make sure that you get a great return.

“So I’m investing into my body to make sure that I’m on point on Sunday to where I get a great return until each contract. Now I’m possibly going to be a free agent next year working into my third contract. Those are things that I believe set the great and average players apart.”

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