Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib may be new to the Rams this year, but they're no strangers to Philip Rivers.
The Bolts' quarterback has the utmost respect for both cornerbacks, having gone up against each twice a year in recent seasons as AFC West foes. Peters joined the Rams from the Kansas City Chiefs while Talib spent the past few seasons with the Denver Broncos.
Thus, Rivers is awfully familiar with both cornerbacks…and he considers them among the best in the league.
"Two really, really good corners obviously," he said. "Peters has had his share of interceptions the last handful of times we've gone against him. Talib is a heck of a corner. I've always thought going against him twice a year now for however long it's been, that I'd put him up there as one of the top corners in the league. Both those guys (actually)."
So, what makes them so tough to go up against?
According to Rivers, it's their ability to win in man-to-man coverage.
"They allow them to play man coverage, and they do some different things. But they're two of the best in the league. Certain teams and defenses, (they have) corners that are really good corners, but they play a lot of zone and a lot of different things (that help them). These guys line up and play man, and they make it tough on you. You hear about football being a game of one-on-one match-ups; this week truly will be that, especially on the outside."
Head Coach Anthony Lynn echoed that same sentiment.
"We know they're going to be aggressive, in your face, man corners," Lynn said. "We have to win our one-on-ones. That's our challenge – to beat man coverage."
That can sometimes be easier said than done. Fortunately, Rivers isn't the only one familiar with the pair of Pro Bowl corners.
Keenan Allen, Tyrell Williams and Travis Benjamin have each gone up against Peters and Talib on numerous occasions. As a result, they boast an intimate knowledge of what each corner likes to do. At the same time, Peters and Talib have that same intel when it comes to the Bolts' impressive crop of wideouts.
Thus, the main unknown heading into Sunday is how the Rams intend to use their top two cornerbacks.
Will they match each up with a specific receiver, or will they keep them on their same side, right or left, regardless of the wideout who lines up in front of them?
"It will be interesting to see," Rivers noted. "When you have two top corners, I don't know that they're going to necessarily match up. It seemed like last week Peters wanted to be on (Larry) Fitzgerald. We'll see."
Regardless, Rivers won't be afraid to throw in either corner's direction.
"We're not going in overconfident by any means, saying this is the corner we want to attack. We have great respect for those corners, but at the same time, I feel like our receivers and Keenan and all of our guys will have some opportunities."
