At first, Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones feigned ignorance when asked about Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson’s brash talk fueling him for Sunday’s game.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Jones said, smiling. “I just play football.”
But Falcons teammate Devin Hester had already confirmed it: Peterson’s boasts about winning most of his past match ups with Jones spurred Jones to a career game on Sunday at the Georgia Dome.
“He told me every night he went to bed, he thought about it,” Hester said.
Jones’ response: 10 catches (on 12 targets) for a career-high 189 yards and a touchdown in the Falcons’ 29-18 victory. Unofficially, eight of those for 165 yards came with Peterson in coverage, including the 32-yard score that staked the Falcons to a 17-0 lead in the first quarter.
In the days before the game Peterson said he’d gotten the best of Jones when they faced each other in college (Peterson at LSU vs. Jones at Alabama) and also in their one previous NFL matchup. Jones countered that his teams beat Peterson three out of four times.
There was no doubt about their latest meeting. Jones dominated Peterson as the Falcons earned their most impressive victory of the season.
“You better watch out when you call people out,” Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. “You have to be ready to play. If you are going to call them out, you don’t give up the big plays. It’s OK to talk; just back it up.”
Jones acknowledged that Peterson’s boasts were on his mind as he prepared for the game. But he said he also wanted to make amends after he and quarterback Matt Ryan couldn’t connect on a handful of deep passing plays in a loss to the Browns the previous week.
Ryan and Jones did extra work on deep balls after practice during the week, and Jones said he made sure he was ready to take on Peterson.
“I just took it upon myself to make sure I got the proper rest and my timing was down with Matt and just kept working at it,” Jones said.
Peterson had said he wanted to cover Jones one-on-one because he considers himself the best cornerback in the league. But eventually the Cardinals had to give Peterson help in coverage against Jones because Peterson couldn’t keep up with him on his own.
It was a rare mismatch for Peterson, who was voted to Pro Bowl in each of his first three years in the league.
“He won the matchup today,” Peterson said. “Cy Young winners give up home runs. At the end of the day, you have to bounce back.”
Peterson was alone in coverage against Jones when he caught the touchdown pass. Jones reached back to make the reception as he fell to the turf and got the ball across the goal line before he was down.
Jones had three other receptions when Peterson was in single coverage, including a 41-yard catch down the right sideline in the first quarter (video replays appeared to show Jones was out of bounds).
Jones didn’t appear to say much to Peterson after any of the plays.
“Guys who play against me know I don’t talk,” Jones said. “I just come out and play.”
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