Typically, when Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell praises players who stood out in the most recent game it's not incredibly interesting or unobvious. But on Monday, when he gave his rundown of the standouts from Week 14 against the Green Bay Packers, he landed on a very interesting one.
“I thought that was Arnold’s best game of the season,” Campbell said.
At a glance, Arnold did not have an outstanding game against the Packers. He had three tackles and a 60.5 overall Pro Football Focus grade, with two catches for nine yards allowed on two targets in his coverage. He also drew his league-high seventh pass interference penalty of the season.
But that pass interference penalty was his first since Week 10, and his second since Week 4.
More broadly, Campbell praised how good the Lions were in coverage against Green Bay.
"We were really sticky in coverage,” Campbell said. “There were a couple of things that got us in coverage, but overall, our man-to-man coverage was really good, we were all over those guys.”
Campbell's assertion is backed up with statistical evidence. According to NFL Pro (h/t to Jeremy Reisman of Pride of Detroit), the Lions allowed just 2.9 yards of separation per pass target against the Packers, which was tied for the third-best mark of the week.
Is Terrion Arnold turning a corner?
With the college football season ending, this is a point in the season when NFL rookies tend to hit the proverbial "wall." But some turn a corner and emerge. Campbell noted how the Lions have seen that with Amon-Ra St. Brown, Alim McNeill and Penei Sewell, and he put Arnold in that same category.
"I feel like that’s where Arnold’s at,” Campbell said. “He’s starting to push through this and he’s gaining enough valuable reps, experience, he’s not letting the grind of the season weigh him down and he’s getting better.”
Arnold has been throw right into the fire, the deep end of the pool....whatever you're preferred metaphor is. He has played 92 percent of the Lions' defensive snaps in the 12 games he's played this season (he missed Week 12), and it would be more if not for three blowout wins.
We already know how much the Lions put their cornerbacks in single coverage. Now updated, via PFF and noted by Reisman, Arnold has played the most man coverage snaps among all NFL cornerbacks this season through Week 14.
Per @PFF, Terrion Arnold's 239 man-coverage snaps are the most in the NFL.
— Jeremy Reisman (@DetroitOnLion) December 10, 2024
Not the most among rookies. The most among all NFL cornerbacks.
In man coverage thus far, according to PFF, Arnold has allowed a 50 percent completion rate (21 catches on 42 targets), 245 yards and one touchdown, with two pass breakups and a passer rating of 76.0. So he's being put to the test, and passing with flying colors.
Arnold has cleaned up his early penalty issues, and he has generally gotten progressively better over the course of his rookie season. Campbell thinks even better is coming from here on out, and it's impossible to argue with that sentiment.