James Conner isn’t the only familiar face having a reunion when the Arizona Cardinals travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers.
Longtime Cardinals and current Steelers cornerback Patrick Peterson will go against his former squad for the third time. Peterson previously faced Arizona twice when he was with the Minnesota Vikings, in Week 2, 2021 and Week 8, 2022. Peterson is 1-1 against Arizona.
Peterson, who played 10 seasons in Arizona and two seasons with Kyler Murray, talked about how the Cardinals quarterback is returning to his “old ways” since coming off an ACL tear last season.
“It looks like he’s starting to get back in his old ways,” Peterson said of Murray’s recent play, via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “It looks like he’s starting to get back into his groove.”
This isn’t the first time publicly that Peterson has had an opinion on Murray. In the 2022 offseason, Peterson on his All Things Covered podcast joined by former Cardinals running back Chase Edmonds said they don’t think Murray will finish his career in Arizona. Around this time last year, Peterson voiced his opinion on his All Things Covered podcast saying, “Kyler Murray don’t care about nobody but Kyler Murray.”
In July 2022, Murray signed a five-year extension worth $230.5 million, including $160 million in guarantees, securing his future in the desert.
“He’s definitely is a unique talent. There’s no question about that,” Peterson said of Murray. “He does a great job of creating extra time for his receivers down the field. He does a really, really good job of avoiding those free blitzes.
“We have to do a really good job of standing our feet because he is a little guy, so you can’t jump, you can’t go to for pump fake. So we have to make sure that we stay grounded when we do have an opportunity to sack him in the pocket. So he has a very, very good deep ball. We know that they love, they love to boot him and to run that snake post option. Kyler is a one of a kind quarterback.”
Since his return to the lineup in three games, Murray’s play has led the Cardinals to a 1-2 record while throwing for 719 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. However, Murray’s ability to effectively use his legs is what Peterson is hinting at. The Cardinals two-time Pro Bowl QB is holding defenses accountable, totaling three rushing touchdowns on 14 rush attempts for 86 yards.
Despite Murray being one of the talented dual-threat QBs, Pittsburgh has the makeup to hold its own in the matchup. Steelers LB T.J. Watt enters Sunday with 13.5 sacks (tied for the league-lead with Vikings LB Danielle Hunter), while the defense ranks top five in points per game allowed (18.6) and takeaways (20). Peterson and Co. will also likely get a boost with safety Minkah Fitzpatrick returning from an hamstring injury that’s held him out since Week 8.
Murray will try to block out any noise from his former teammate again and help Arizona win its first game in Pittsburgh since 1969.
