Brandon Aiyuk of the San Francisco 49ers catches a touchdown against Patrick Peterson of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second quarter of a game at Acrisure Stadium on September 10, 2023 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Joe Sargent/Getty Images
The veteran defensive back guaranteed on his podcast earlier this week that he would get an interception off Purdy, and teased that he knew how to read the Niners’ offense.
“There is some tell signs out there that tells us what plays we’re gonna get from those guys in certain situations,” Peterson said. “When I get my pick Sunday, we’ll talk about it.”
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What we all saw Sunday in the Niners’ 30-7 win over the Steelers was Peterson getting scored on twice, and then getting pancaked. San Francisco receiver Brandon Aiyuk started Peterson’s long day with a route that caused the 33-year-old to stumble and leave Aiyuk open for his first touchdown on the opening drive of the game.
Aiyuk then scored again near the start of the second quarter. This time, Peterson was draped all over him, but Aiyuk was still able to make the catch and keep his feet in bounds to get the six points. Purdy kept his eyes on the receiver throughout the route, almost as if he was directly challenging Peterson with the throw.
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Of course, that’s the nature of being a cornerback going up against top-tier receivers. Sometimes you just get beat, even after claiming you know how to read the quarterback scoring touchdowns on you.
What was more embarrassing was what happened at the start of the second half, when Christian McCaffrey scored a touchdown on a 65-yard run. Peterson was not responsible for covering McCaffrey directly, but he was the last line of defense as the running back got further down the field. Unfortunately for Peterson, he was hardly able to get a hand on McCaffrey, as Ray-Ray McCloud drove Peterson down the field against his will on a strong block.
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Peterson remained coy about these supposed “tell signs” the Niners’ offense had after the game. He even insisted that he was close to getting his pick because of those tells.
“It was there. I had the opportunity to get two picks, I just didn’t grab it in the end,” Peterson said. “Credit to those guys, those guys did a great job of sticking to their game plan and really getting into their identity.”
The real question now is whether Peterson will still ever share the supposed “tell signs” the Niners’ offense has, even though he didn’t snag his guaranteed pick. That being said, given how Sunday went for him and the Steelers, it’s hard to imagine those tells are much.