Arrington, in a nutshell

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Kyle Arrington in a nutshell.

Cue Arrington: "Help!  I'm in a nutshell!"

Many questioned the team offering Arrington a four year, $16 million contract this offseason, the detractors stemming solely on his seeming inability to cover receivers on the fly and up the sidelines - but the proponents would tell you that he's pure smooth hell in the slot.

On a sunny late summer afternoon Sunday afternoon in Orchard Park, New York, we received confirmation of both.

For the detractors, the 5th year corner had Bills' biggest mouth - and number one receiver - Stevie Johnson in man coverage, Johnson in the slot and speeding past Arrington who, as nearly always on the fly routes, was a half a step slow, as was free safety Devin McCourty as Arrington's help over the top...

...but Arrington recovered almost fully and forced Buffalo quarterback E. J. Manuel had to lay an impressive touch spiral into Johnson's hands between the corner and the safety, and it allowed the Bills to take a four point lead early in the second half.

Fortunately, he had much more of a positive impact for the other 63 snaps he was on the field for in the New England Patriots' 23-21 victory over the Buffalo Bills - to the tune of four tackles, two forced fumbles and one pass defensed - the forced fumbles leading directly to both Patriots' touchdowns on the day.

He has always been known as a good slot corner and excellent in run support - but one game is probably not enough to erase the negativity surrounding Arrington's presence on the field or even a roster spot or cap hit among his critics, nor should it be...

...but perhaps his performance yesterday opened some eyes as to what the coaching staff saw in him when they gave him four million dollars a year over the next four seasons, and also to perhaps consider his whole body of work as opposed to focusing on the negatives.

There are both good and not so good in every cornerback's game, and not one is immune to getting scorched every now and then, but as long as the positives outweigh the negatives by such a ratio and stays relatively anonymous to the viewers, he's doing his job.

And if he managed to recruit a few folks into his corner along the way, well, there's nothing wrong with that.