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The Arizona Cardinals have not been the team we were expecting on defense, that is for sure.
They rank in the bottom 10 in pass defense, points allowed and turnovers.
Yet, they still rank as top eight team against the run.
One of the reasons why is that every week, they have Corey Peters manning the middle of the defense.
He is not a pass rusher, so his impact is often unnoticed, but that doesn’t mean it is not felt, as my buddy Justis Mosqueda put together:
TNF's defensive linemen/pass-rushers in terms of tackles at the line/in the backfield vs expectation (NFL average, min 125 snaps.) I'll do a couple of these. pic.twitter.com/2yGacKvzgu
— Justis Mosqueda (@JuMosq) November 10, 2017
Look at those numbers. The total amount of negative plays that Corey Peters has caused in 2017 is eight.
That may not seem like a lot, but you put that into the context of snaps played, 55% of snaps in 2017, that means he is doing it at a very high rate.
In fact, the overall impact of what Corey Peters does every week is so good, he is still among the most productive in plays for loss in the NFL, despite only playing 55% of snaps for the Cardinals in 2017.
NFL defensive linemen and pass-rushers with more than nine tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage this year. pic.twitter.com/XhfgsYeMBd
— Justis Mosqueda (@JuMosq) November 13, 2017
Peters is on the list with names that are talked about as the elites at their position. He is on this list despite having only one sack on the season, the second lowest on this list, only Grady Jarrett has less sacks and more tackles for loss and Jarrett plays 74% of his teams snaps.
Corey Peters is the unsung hero of a still talented run defense and is the anchor in the middle.
No one in the NFL does it better than Corey Peters against the run.