The Shadow Knows Week 4 2018

Well, that didn't last long.

For all of about two weeks, it looked like the Los Angeles Rams might challenge the Jacksonville Jaguars for the title of the NFL's best secondary. The Rams shelled out a fat, greasy bundle of cash (and draft picks) to acquire veteran cornerbacks Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib. In games against the Oakland Raiders and Arizona Cardinals, LA's new-look secondary put the clamps on the passing game.

OK, that level of opposition isn't exactly "elite," but still.

However, in last week's win over the Chargers, it all came crashing down. Peters suffered a calf injury that has hampered him markedly, and Talib hurt his ankle severely enough to require surgery and a trip to injured reserve.

Ouch and double-ouch.

It just goes to show you. Passing-game matchups change. Teams that look set to feast for some reason struggle. Ones that should struggle go off out of nowhere—we saw both happen last week in Minnesota when the Vikings aid the egg to end all eggs against the Bills. And injuries remain an unfortunate fact of life in today's NFL.

In the NFL, anything can happen. Unless you play the Jaguars. In that case, your receivers are screwed.

And screwed receivers seem as good a spot as any to start this week's look at big-time showdowns between receivers and cornerbacks—a list made shorter this week by the injuries to Peters, Talib and Richard Sherman of the San Francisco 49ers.

New York Jets at Jacksonville Jaguars (Quincy Enunwa vs. Jalen Ramsey)
Ramsey has gotten something of a reputation of occasionally talking junk, whether it's about receivers or quarterbacks. However, Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone told ESPN's Mira Kimes that much of Ramsey's trash-talk is actually educated opinion. "Before every game, " Marrone said, "I'll say: 'Tell me about the receiver you're going up against,'" He's as thorough as anyone I've ever been around."

There's no question that Ramsey's one of the best cover-corners in the NFL. Maybe the best. Part of the reason the Jaguars are so good at taking away an opponent's top receiving option is that they just slap Ramsey on him and that's that. The Jaguars have seen the same film we have—they know that Enunwa is far and away Sam Darnold's favorite target through the air, and while the Jets will no doubt try to scheme Enunwa open by moving him around, odds are good he'll be locked up with Ramsey much of the afternoon.

Panic Level: 5 (If you have any kind of comparable Plan B this is the week to use them)

Cincinnati Bengals at Atlanta Falcons (AJ Green vs. Robert Alford)
Green injured his hip in last week's loss to the Carolina Panthers, but he told Paul Dehner of the Cincinnati Enquirer that he expects to be a full-go for Sunday's continuation of the Bengals' tour of the NFC South. “I feel great,” he said. “I had the same thing in college. Came down on my butt just like that. It was a little scary at first. Could have been a lot worse. But I feel good. Little sore yesterday, but today I felt good. No limitations so I’m fine.”

That wheezing sound you heard was every AJ Green owner simultaneously exhaling.

So far this season Alford, much like the rest of the Atlanta defense, has struggled mightily, allowing a passer rating against of almost 120. With Desmond Trufant on the other side of the field on Tyler Boyd, the Falcons are going to need to get safety help for Alford. That would be a lot easier if the team had any healthy safeties left.

Panic Level: -7 (This is setting up as a big day for AJ—at least on paper)

New Orleans Saints at New York Giants (Marshon Lattimore vs. Odell Beckham)
Lattimore's 2018 season started out with a murderer's row of receivers—first Mike Evans, then Julio Jones and now Beckham. The second-year corner told Nick Underhill of the New Orleans Advocate that's just fine with him. “You want to be the best. You got to play the best and be good against the best,” Lattimore said. “I measure myself against them, of course. If they’re the best in the league and I’m shutting them down, that has to say something about my game.”

Evans had a huge Week 1 for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, reeling in seven passes for 147 yards and a touchdown. Jones didn't post quite that gaudy a stat line, but his five receptions for 96 yards wasn't exactly cat food, either. Given the success that those stars had Beckham should be just fine—provided that terrible Eli Manning doesn't show up at the Meadowlands Sunday.

Panic Level: 1 (Lattimore's not exactly shutting the big names down in the early-going this year)

New Orleans Saints at New York Giants (Michael Thomas vs. Janoris Jenkins)
As Matt Lombardo wrote for NJ.com, Jenkins said there's no big secret to slowing down Drew Brees, Thomas and one of the NFL's most explosive offenses. "Just come out and play defense," Jenkins said. "Everybody just swarm to the ball, play as a team, and we’ll be ok."

Why didn't the Atlanta Falcons think of that?

To say that Thomas is off to a hot start is one lulu of an understatement—he's on pace to record 202 catches for 2,122 yards this year, both of which would shatter the single-season records in those categories. In news that should surprise absolutely no one, Thomas leads the NFL in targets this year, and given that "Jackrabbit" ranks outside the top 50 cornerbacks at PFF this year Brees isn't going to be even a little shy about going after him.

Cleveland Browns at Oakland Raiders (Denzel Ward vs. Amari Cooper)
Per Austin Gayle of Pro Football Focus, Ward has wasted no time in making a name for himself at the NFL level. "Now three games, 202 defensive snaps into his NFL career," Gayle said, "Ward has earned an overall grade of 81.9, which currently ranks eighth among cornerbacks, and a coverage grade of 86.3, which is good for sixth. He has allowed receptions on 15-of-21 targets for 130 yards, two touchdowns, and six first downs while logging two interceptions across 117 coverage snaps. He ranks 31st in passer rating allowed (79.6) and 22nd in yards allowed per reception (8.7)."

Ward is allowing over 70 of the passes thrown in his direction to be completed, but he's allowing less than 45 receiving yards a game and a passer rating against of less than 80. In other words, while there may not be basis for a full-fledged freak-out there is cause for some concern, especially given Cooper's roller-coaster usage this season.

Panic Level: 4 (This has as much to do with two vanishing acts in three games as Ward, but the latter doesn't help matters any, ya dig?)

Kansas City Chiefs at Denver Broncos (Tyreek Hill vs. Chris Harris)
PFF's Michael Renner recently went so far as to label Hill the most dangerous wide receiver in all of the NFL. "Hill may not be the perfect, complete receiver" Renner wrote. "He may not be deadly in the entire route tree. But no one demands to be game planned for more than the Chiefs wideout. If you’re an opposing defensive coordinator and think your scheme will hold up on its own, it’s not going to be a matter of if, but when."

Given the way that Hill, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are piling up points on offense, it's kind of hard to argue with him. And the Denver secondary is a shell of the "No Fly Zone" group of a few years ago. But Harris is the best cornerback on the team, and with Sammy Watkins and Travis Kelce also at his disposal down the field, it's possible that Hill's target share could be a bit lower than normal in Week 4.

Panic Level: 2 (You gotta start Hill every week. But a second straight slow week is a real possibility)