Most weeks, the Lions film review I do covers the entire team. This week is a little different. While I’ll roll out a general observations notebook later, I wanted to do a specific focus on first-round rookie Terrion Arnold.
There were a couple of reasons for this. First, my real-time game observation was that Arnold played better than his lowly PFF grade (54.2) indicated. Secondly, the draftnik in me wanted to see how he stacked up against Cardinals first-round rookie WR Marvin Harrison Jr., Arizona’s top offensive threat.
Completion No. 1
Arnold’s first play that he was involved in was Arizona’s fifth snap of the opening drive. Harrison and Greg Dortch are stacked twins to Arnold’s side (right side of the defense), with Harrison on the line inside of Dortch. Safety Brian Branch is tight on Harrison, but as soon as the routes begin, Branch runs with Dortch (and blankets him) outside. Harrison runs a 15-yard “in” route with Arnold over the top and shading outside, with safety Kerby Joseph as inside help.
Arnold passes Harrison off to Joseph as the wideout continues across the field and QB Kyler Murray holds the ball in the pocket. Arnold quickly sees that Harrison is the only viable option for Murray (everyone else is completely suffocated in coverage) and closes quickly, arriving just a half-sec after the ball does on the right sideline.
By the way Arnold and Joseph played this, it appears each thought the other had the responsibility on Harrison on that side of the field. Arnold reacted instantly when Joseph turned away, but it was too late to prevent the completion on a play where Murray held the ball for 4.8 seconds before throwing.
Injury
On the next play that counted (an offensive holding negated a run play), Arnold did a fantastic job playing press-man on WR Michael Wilson out of the slot. Perfect coverage. Unfortunately, Arnold got his leg grazed by a diving Murray as he tackled the QB on a scramble down the field.
Arnold was not on the field for Arizona’s touchdown on this drive, a Murray-to-Harrison pass. He also missed the entire next Cardinals drive, a 3-and-out, replaced by Amik Robertson.
Completion No. 2
On his next play, the Cardinals tested Arnold. Man coverage on Wilson, lined up tight on the defensive right. Arnold immediately bails and plays outside technique. It’s a 17-yard in-route, and Wilson gains a step on the break inside. Arnold again closes quickly, but Murray hits Wilson on the other side of the field on a play where the QB had 4.1 seconds to throw thanks to a nifty pocket shuffle. Linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez didn’t have enough depth on his coverage drop to help Arnold out here.
It was all for naught, as the Cardinals were flagged for offensive holding.
DPI
After Arnold did well in setting an edge on a run play, the rookie got flagged for a defensive pass interference call on a lob throw to Wilson up the left sideline. Arnold did a great job not taking the cheese on a not-very-good stutter move from Wilson. He’s in strong position, but Wilson’s early reaction to the ball is a great “sell” to the official; Wilson puts both hands up and Arnold has both hands on him at that point and isn’t looking for the ball. Two flags flew.
Was it legit pass interference? Yeah, probably. If it happened to a Lions receiver, you’d better believe fans would agree. This got called more because of how well Wilson sold it than any egregious infraction by Arnold, in my opinion.
PBU
Just before halftime, Arnold played very well on Arizona’s drive that resulted in a Matt Prater field goal. Primarily in zone for the drive, Arnold and the Lions switched to man for a play with 13 seconds left, knowing the Cardinals were going to try and take a shot.
They did, and Arnold was in lockstep with Harrison. He effectively ran the route for the Cardinals wideout and broke up Murray’s pass, though Harrison did have a bit of a play at the ball.
What stood out here is how well Arnold kept outside technique in his coverage. He knew his help, in this case Brian Branch, was inside and Arnold couldn’t give an inch to the outside. And he did that expertly. Playing to the help is not something Lions cornerbacks have done well of late, but Arnold already has a very good feel for it.
The Kerby INT
Arnold was integrally involved in Kerby Joseph’s interception in the end zone to end Arizona’s first drive of the second half. The Cardinals got tricky and snapped the ball quickly before many Lions, Arnold included, were ready. Arnold (outside) and Joseph (inside) had outside bracket coverage on Harrison and they both did very well despite not being able to communicate pre-snap.
This is a play the Cardinals clearly drew up to attack the rookie. Murray never looked elsewhere; he had TE Trey McBride streaking away from a too-shallow Jack Campbell at the 15-yard line underneath the Harrison route.
Overall
Frequent readers know I like to do a simple plus/minus evaluation for individual players in the spotlight. In this game, Arnold earned 12 plusses and five minuses, one of which was the questionable pass interference call.
In man coverage, there were three minuses but eight plusses. That’s a great ratio for any cornerback, let alone a rookie playing on the road for the first time against a dangerous offense. Arnold had one minus earned on a run play, but overall looked very alert and active in run defense too.
The lower-mid PFF score appears to be heavily influenced by the penalty. Matched up against Harrison in coverage, Arnold allowed one catch for 17 yards; I couldn’t find on tape the alleged second completion PFF credited to Arnold’s coverage by Harrison, though they misidentified the first completion he allowed to Wilson. Harrison did catch another with Arnold in initial coverage, but he had passed him off to Joseph in high-middle help by the time of the throw and catch.