For what seemed to be the first time in Kansas City Chiefs second-year cornerback Marcus Peters' young career, the New Orleans Saints and eventual Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees seemed to be actively avoiding throwing in his direction last Sunday.

"He's playing as well as anybody in the league right now in the secondary," Brees explained of Peters earlier in the week before the game on Sunday. "He's a very dangerous player and has exceptional skills, exceptional ball skills, great instincts, especially for a young player." 

It's not as if it should be any kind of a surprise that they avoided him during the game, as Peters leads the NFL with five interceptions and has shown a knack for making plays that are of the elite variety.

"If they are going to throw away from me, I have to use my instincts and recognize the plays like those under-boots," Peters said after the game, explaining one of the plays that did come in his direction that he should have done a better job with. "I can go make tackles and get them down on short yardage. I will continue to play my game.

"We trust in the defense and go out there and play team defense. We'll all go out there and try to dominate."

When asked about Brees avoiding Peters last Sunday, Chiefs coach Andy Reid said it's almost a rite of passage.

"I mean that's a respect thing for Marcus," Reid explained. "That doesn't mean you can let down, obviously. I remember with Deion Sanders, that's kind of how those things rolled. You kind of stayed away from him and went over to the other side. So, I've seen that before.

"Listen, the main thing is that you keep working, and working, and working and working at your game, and he's willing to do that. Then, the other guys have to know that they're going to get some action, and that's okay. We've got good players there."

The Chiefs defense had two takeaways that proved to be the difference in the 27-21 win over the Saints on Sunday.

Safety Daniel Sorensen returned an interception 48 yards for a touchdown late in the first quarter, and then later in the game, safety Ron Parker forced a fumble in the red zone, which was picked up by Peters and returned 21 yards and may have been the biggest play in the game.

So while it wasn't an interception, Peters still found a way to get his hands on the ball and assist in a game-changing play for the defense.

Just another way he's continuing to earn that respect.