Tag: interception

WATCH: Jordan Howden, Pete Werner team up for much-needed takeaway vs. Panthers

WATCH: Jordan Howden, Pete Werner team up for much-needed takeaway vs. Panthers

The New Orleans Saints needed this. Facing the Carolina Panthers offense at midfield, rookie safety Jordan Howden was tasked with blitzing the quarterback — and he did his job well, catching Panthers rookie quarterback  Bryce Young at the top of his drop to jar the ball out of Young’s hand.

And linebacker Pete Werner was in the right spot at the right time to snag the recovery. Initially announced as an interception, the play was reviewed and changed to a sack-fumble for Howden and a fumble recovery for Werner. That’s a small adjustment, but it’s something they’ll be happy to share a laugh over with a win. Let’s see if the Saints can hold onto their league in the second half.

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Broncos QB Russell Wilson on turnovers: ‘I’ve got to play cleaner’

“I think more than anything else, I’ve got to play cleaner,” Broncos QB Russell Wilson said after throwing three interceptions in Houston.

In terms of interceptions, Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson was perfect during the team’s five-game winning streak. During that 5-0 run, Wilson threw eight touchdown passes and no interceptions.

Wilson came crashing back to earth against the Houston Texans on Sunday, throwing three interceptions in a 22-17 loss. One of the passes was tipped at the line of scrimmage. The other two were poor decisions.

“Yeah, first one was tipped,” Wilson said after the game. “They made a good play. The second one – took a shot down the field to ‘Court.’ Thought we had him, honestly, and he [the defender] made a heck of a play. I don’t know how he made that play, to be honest with you. Then the last one was trying to win the game for us, trying to get the ball up high in the end zone, and they made that one. You know, I think the first one is just part of the game of football. The last two, they made good plays.”

The Broncos dominated the turnover battle during their winning streak, but Wilson’s three turnovers on Sunday gave them a minus-three ratio in Houston. If Denver is going to finish the season strong and get into the playoff mix, Wilson will have to do a better job protecting the ball going forward.

“That was a great game back and forth, back and forth, back and forth,” Wilson said after Sunday’s loss. “We felt like we were going to come out on top, and I think more than anything else, I’ve got to play cleaner. We’ve all got to be better, but I’ve got to play cleaner. … There’s a lot more ball left.”

Up next for the Broncos is a road game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

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Numbers do lie: Saints lost the turnover battle vs. Falcons

The Saints and Falcons had an equal number of takeaways, but the Saints still lost the turnover battle due to not capitalizing off Atlanta’s mistakes:

If you simply look at the stats at the end of the game, you’ll see the New Orleans Saints forced two turnovers and gave up two turnovers to the Atlanta Falcons. Mathematically, that means each team tied in the turnover battle. Numbers do lie, or at least don’t tell the full story.

Despite having the same amount of turnovers, New Orleans’ turnovers were met with more consequences. Both of the Saints turnovers came in the red zone and took points off the board. Derek Carr’s interception to Jessie Bates III was returned for a touchdown, taking points away from the Saints and directly giving them to the Falcons. Atlanta then turned a Taysom Hill fumble into another touchdown after a nine-play, 95-yard drive.

While teams may have forced two turnovers (with Tyrann Mathieu twice intercepting Desmond Ridder), Atlanta turned those opportunities into 14 points. The Saints got zero points from their takeaways. The Saints get a slight pass on one turnover because it was at the end of the half.

Still, the point discrepancy was a major difference in the game. The battle can’t be equal when one team scored over half their points from turnovers and the other couldn’t capitalize on their opponent’s mistakes. The Saints were the latter on Sunday.

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WATCH: Tyrann Mathieu reads ball perfectly for his 2nd INT against Falcons

WATCH: Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu reads ball perfectly for his second interception against Falcons

There was a vintage Tyrann Mathieu performance on Sunday as he battled to keep the New Orleans Saints in an important game against the Atlanta Falcons.

With the offense struggling to find points and keep players on the field, the Saints would need a big day from the defense to keep the team in the game. Mathieu answered the call his second interception on the day. Mathieu is now up to three interceptions this season and six total as a member of the Saints.

It was Mathieu’s first two-interception performance since Week 2 of the 2021 season as a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. Mathieu has now had four games with two interceptions, up to 32 total picks for his career.

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WATCH: Tyrann Mathieu sends the Saints into halftime with crucial interception

WATCH: Tyrann Mathieu sends the Saints into halftime with crucial interception vs. Falcons

The New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons had offensive issues define the first half. Right before teams took to the locker rooms, Desmond Ridder threw his first interception of the day.

The Falcons were driving down the field, looking to push their lead before the end of the half, before Tyrann Mathieu swooped in and took the ball away. It was Mathieu’s second interception of the season and his fifth in a Saints uniform.

The play ended in scuffle after emotions got raised during the drive. A couple of physical runs from Cordarelle Patterson had the two teams chippy already, then Jonnu Smith and Khlaen Saunders got into it. The two players had offsetting penalties and the Saints were able to knee the half out.

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WATCH: Chiefs DB L’Jarius Sneed intercepts Eagles QB Jalen Hurts on MNF

#Chiefs DB L’Jarius Sneed intercepted #Eagles QB Jalen Hurts in the second quarter of Kansas City’s Week 11 matchup against Philadelphia.

The Kansas City Chiefs defense came up big in the second quarter of the team’s Week 11 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles when defensive back L’Jarius Sneed intercepted Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.

The play came as the Eagles were driving downfield when Hurts seemed to have a lapse of judgment when targeting star receiver A.J. Brown downfield. Sneed jumped Brown’s route to get in a position to make a play on the ball and managed to make a clean catch to give Kansas City the ball with a chance to take the lead.

Take a look at Sneed’s outstanding snag:

This interception gave the Chiefs the upper hand in the Super Bowl LVII rematch on Monday Night Football and may prove to be consequential as the game wears on.

Expect Sneed to continue making his presence felt against the Eagles’ high-octane offense as Kansas City looks to earn its eighth win of the 2023 season in primetime.

LOOK: Cowboys CB DaRon Bland gets 4th Pick-6 of 2023

Bland ties an NFL record last accomplished 30 seasons ago. There’s still seven games left to go. | From @KDDrummondNFL

DaRon Bland has done it again. The Cowboys cornerback has been an incredible addition since being drafted by the club in the fifth round of the 2023 draft. After leading the 2022 team in interceptions despite only getting significant snaps in half of the games, he’s elevated his play in Year 2.

Now on the boundary, Bland has been the best cornerback in football this season, and he proved it yet again in Week 11. On an outbreaking route, Bland somehow caught up and dove for the ball, securing his sixth interception on the year. But he wasn’t done, getting up and racing the ball back 31 yards for his fourth Pick-6 of the season.

Bland has tied the NFL record in just 10 contests, with his fourth interception return of the season. He’s the fourth to do it, it was last done by Eric Allen 30 years ago in 1993.

Bland now has 11 interceptions over the course of the last two seasons, the most in the NFL.

The Broncos’ defense has turned into a takeaway machine

The Broncos have forced nine turnovers in their last two games, the most in a two-game span since 1998.

This is not the same Denver Broncos defense that was blown out by the Miami Dolphins 70-20 in September.

Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph has made several key changes since that blowout loss and Denver’s defense has flipped from a weakness to a strength.

Two weeks ago, the Broncos forced five turnovers in a 24-9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. Last week, Denver forced four turnovers in a 24-22 victory over the Buffalo Bills.

That marked the first time since 1998 that the Broncos forced nine turnovers in a two-game span and the first time since 1991 that the club had consecutive games with at least four takeaways.

“It was the difference [in the game],” coach Sean Payton said of the takeaways in Buffalo. “Our defensive takeaways — and honestly, it’ll be the key for us as we move forward these next few weeks. It’s just hard  —the margins in our league are so close. Let’s say there are 12 possessions per team, on average. There might be a little more or less. I get a takeaway — that means I have 13 and you have 11.

“I get one more — I have 14, you have 10. You just start doing that math. We knew it was going to be really significant here. Josh [Allen] and Sean [McDermott] together are 33-1 when they win the turnover battle. That’s pretty significant, 33-1. But fortunately for us, we won that [Monday], and that had a lot to do — if not everything to do — with us winning the game.”

This week, Denver’s defense will face quarterback Josh Dobbs, who hasn’t thrown an interception through his first two games with the Minnesota Vikings. Earlier this season, Dobbs threw five interceptions in eight games with the Arizona Cardinals. Dobbs has also fumbled 11 times this year.

If the Broncos are continue to continue their three-game winning streak, forcing Dobbs into mistakes on Sunday could be a key to success.

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WATCH: Fabian Moreau intercepts Josh Allen pass on ‘Monday Night Football’

A third takeaway for the Broncos’ defense! Fabian Moreau intercepts a Josh Allen pass, Denver’s second interception of the game.

Another takeaway for the Denver Broncos’ defense!

Broncos cornerback Fabian Moreau intercepted a Josh Allen pass late in the second quarter of a Monday Night Football showdown with the Buffalo Bills. That marked Denver’s third takeaway in the first half.

Here’s video of the play, courtesy of the team’s official Twitter/X page:

After the turnover, the Broncos later kicked a field goal just before time expired to take a 15-8 lead into halftime. Denver will get the ball to begin the third quarter.

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WATCH: Paulson Adebo bags his second interception in two games

Paulson Adebo bagged his second interception in two games, extending his hold on the Saints’ team lead:

Whew. Paulson Adebo is playing at a very high level right now — and he built on his team lead with another interception on Sunday against the Chicago Bears, his second takeaway in as many games.

The New Orleans Saints cornerback correctly read Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent’s intentions while dropping back in a Cover-2 defense; when the ball funneled his way, Adebo jumped the receiver’s route to pluck it out of the air. Bagent was looking for his tight end Cole Kmet, who caught a touchdown pass on the opening drive with Tyrann Mathieu in coverage, but Adebo made a play this time.

Adebo now leads the Saints with three interceptions on the year, putting him inside the top-10 among defenders leaguewide. Coverage penalties were a problem for Adebo earlier in the season but, to his credit, he’s cleaned things up and is now playing like the Saints’ best defensive back. He’s also forced and recovered a fumble this season. They’ll need more big plays from Adebo to get back to a winning record.

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