1. It did not take long for rookie CB Ronald Darby to get the 1st INT of his career. On the 4th play of the Colts' 3rd possession of the season opener late in 1st quarter Darby, the Bills' 2nd round draft pick, picks off an underthrown deep pass intended for WR T.Y. Hilton and returns it 27 yards. The Bills cashed in the turnover with a TD 5 plays later for their first points of the season, sending them on their way to a 27-14 home victory. Darby's INT was the first of 73 interceptions by players with dreads during the regular season.
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2. No matter how good (or bad) a CB you are, you win some and you lose some. Ronald Darby loses this one, unable to prevent Texans WR DeAndre Hopkins from making a 19-yard TD catch during 4th quarter in Week 13. A 2-point conversion after the TD tied the game at 21. Hopkins finished with 5 catches for 88 yards, including 3 for 71 on this 83-yard drive - all against Darby. The good news for Ronald was that the Bills scored a TD and a FG in the final 2 minutes to win 30-21.
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4. It did not take Steelers 1st round draft choice Bud Dupree long to get his 1st career sack. Dupree stops QB Tom Brady for no gain on 3rd and 10, forcing the Patriots to punt on their first drive of the season. The sack was one of 2 tackles (2-0) he had as the Steelers lost their season opener 28-21.
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6. Ravens 4th round draft choice, and a former teammate in college (Kentucky) of Bud Dupree, LB Za'Darius Smith picks up one of the 2 sacks he had of QB Alex Smith in Week 15 home loss to the Chiefs 34-14. Nearly identical in size to Dupree at 6-foot-4 and 275 pounds, Smith outdid his former teammate in their rookie season - at least in sacks, that is. He finished the season with 5.5, or 1.5 more than Dupree.
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8. It was 3 months between picks for Calvin Pryor, once again showing he's a prime-time player with an INT in the Jets' Saturday night road game against Dallas in Week 15. With his dreads reduced, Calvin picks of a pass in the end zone intended for WR Dez Bryant on 2nd and goal, keeping the Cowboys from adding to their 10-9 lead during 3rd quarter. The Jets eventually won 19-16.
Pryor finished the season with just these 2 picks, helping the AFC East finish in a tie with the AFC North for the division with the most interceptions by players with dreads (16 each).
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9. With Coach Pagano looking on excitedly, S Dwight Lowery gets his 1st INT in a Colts uniform and, with LB Erik Walden providing an escort, takes the return 69 yards to the house to increase the Colts' lead to 14-0 over the Titans early in 2nd quarter at Nashville in Week 3. Lowery, who had interceptions for the Jets, Jaguars, and Falcons during his first 7 NFL seasons, got another huge pick later in this game midway through 4th quarter, setting up a short TD drive that put the Colts ahead to stay as they picked up their 1st win of the season 35-33.
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10. This ball certainly looks like it's touching the ground, but the ruling on the field was not overturned; so Dwight Lowery gets credit for his 3rd INT of season, keeping the Colts' game at Atlanta scoreless with 9:20 remaining in 1st quarter in Week 11. The Colts went on to win 24-21, kicking a FG with 52 seconds remaining in the game.
Despite Lowery finishing the season with a career high 4 INT, it wasn't enough to convince the Colts to re-sign him. So Dwight, who didn't debut his dreads until he was with the Jaguars in 2012, is now playing the 2016 season for his 5th different team in 9 years, wearing a #20 San Diego Chargers jersey.
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12. In addition to intercepting 3 passes, Ron Parker had 5 sacks in 2015, the 3rd of which came here in Week 14 when he tackled QB Philip Rivers for a 3-yard loss on 3rd and 8, forcing the Chargers to punt during 1st quarter of the Chiefs' 10-3 victory. Parker's 5 sacks were the most by any DB with dreads.
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13. Before changing his name during the offseason, the player known as Nickell Robey tackles Colts QB Andrew Luck for no gain on 3rd and 10 and picks up his 1st (and only) sack of the season during 4th quarter of the Bills' season-opening win.
If you're interested in knowing why he officially changed his named to Nickell Robey-Coleman, click on this link from the Bills' website (and also be sure to click on the video included with the article titled "Wired For Sound: Nickell Robey."
http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-1/Bills-cornerback-adds-legacy-of-his-mother-to-his-surname/c3f665d1-70b9-430e-8cd1-a8a81be84258
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25. RB Todd Gurley prances into the end zone as he finishes off his longest run of the season, a 71-yard TD that puts the Rams ahead (to stay) at 10-3 during 2nd quarter of their Week 8 home win over the 49ers 27-6. Gurley's 146 total yards in the game were the most by anybody with dreads in Week 8.
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Rams went on to win 24-22, dealing the Cardinals' their 1st defeat of the season.
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28. After 49ers TE Vance McDonald bobbled a perfect pass high into the air, Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict says, "Thank you very much, I'll take that," getting his 1st INT of the season late in 2nd quarter in Week 15, as CB Dre Kirkpatrick ducks to try to stay out of his way. Burfict got up and returned the ball 16 yards to the SF 20-yard line. Bengals scored a TD on the next play to up their lead to 21-0 at halftime and cruised to a 24-14 road victory.
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30. So what else is new? - Another big play by the Broncos' defense. With Denver leading at Detroit 17-12 in 4th quarter in Week 3, S David Bruton tips a pass intended for WR Calvin Johnson to himself on 3rd and 12 and hangs on at the Broncos' 37-yard line for his 1st INT of the season with 3:37 to play. Broncos' offense actually scored a TD 5 plays later to put the game away and make the final score 24-12.
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31. With the Giants clinging to a 4-point lead midway through 3rd quarter in Week 7, S Brandon Meriweather makes sure they stay in the lead, picking off a deep pass intended for WR Terrance Williams at the 1-yard line. Giants went on to win 27-20. This was the 2nd of 2 interceptions Meriweather had in his first season on the team, and it might turn out to be the last INT of his career. After recording 17 career picks during his 9 seasons in the NFL, he remains a free agent, and it's beginning to look like he might not ever play another game in the league.
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32. CB Charles Tillman picks off a pass intended for WR Hakeem Nicks in the end zone on 2nd and 2 to end a Giants scoring opportunity and keep the Panthers in front 35-21 midway through 4th quarter in Week 15. Panthers blew the lead anyway later but then kicked a FG on the last play of the game to win 38-35 and improve to 14-0. For Tillman this was his 2nd INT of the season and the last of his career. He retired at the end of the season, finishing with 38 interceptions - 36 in his 12 seasons with the Bears plus the 2 he had in his only season for Carolina.
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34. The last of Raiders DE Denico Autry's 3 sacks on the season is worth 2 points, as he takes down Philip Rivers in the end zone (a 6-yard loss) on 3rd and 13, cutting the Chargers' lead to 17-12 late in 3rd quarter on Thursday night (and Christmas Eve) in Week 16. The 3 sacks were the first 3 of his career for Autry, who didn't have any during his rookie season in 2014.
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And now, a 6-pack of sick sacks (sick dreads, that is).
35. Earlier in the game on Christmas Eve S Jahleel Addae beats his teammates to QB Derek Carr on 2nd and 3 and sacks him for a 13-yard loss, foiling the Raiders' hopes of getting into FG range in the closing seconds of the 1st half. It was Addae's only sack of the season and it kept alive his streak (now at 3 years) of having exactly 1 sack in each season of his career. Chargers lost the game to the Raiders 23-20 in overtime to drop to 0-5 against AFC West division opponents (they went on to finish 0-6).
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37. Raiders rookie LB Neiron Ball gets his 1st career sack on this play in Week 3, and it was a big one. With Raiders leading by 7 at Cleveland in the final minute, and after the Browns had driven from their own 2-yard line to the Oakland 29, Ball tackles QB Josh McCown for a 6-yard loss. A Charles Woodson interception on the next play clinched the 27-20 victory. Unfortunately Ball would play only 3 more games before missing the rest of the season with a knee injury; and he won't be playing in 2016 either after starting the season on the IR list.
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39. Chargers DT Ricardo Mathews takes down Steelers QB Michael Vick for a 4-yard loss for his only tackle of the game and only sack of the season on the first play of a three-and-out possession during 3rd quarter on Monday night in Week 5. Chargers lost the game though, as you might remember, 24-20 on a Le'Veon Bell TD run on the final play of the game. With the sack Mathews officially became the player with the longest dreads to record a sack in 2015. Then again, whatever Ricardo does, almost always he's the player with the longest dreads to do it. If he gets any sacks in 2016, they'll be for the Steelers, not against them.
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43. Although DE Devin Taylor gets his 1st sack of the season, he doesn't get the pleasure of hitting the QB, as Peyton Manning goes down for an 11-yard loss before Taylor can get his hands on him late in 3rd quarter of the Lions' home opener in Week 3. Broncos punted 3 plays later. The sack was the first of the career high 7 that Taylor had in 2015.
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44. Devin Taylor's 7 sacks were 2.5 more than his former college (South Carolina) teammate Jadeveon Clowney. After playing just 4 games during his injury-plagued rookie season in 2014, Clowney got his first 4.5 sacks for the Texans in 2015, including this one of QB Tyrod Taylor at the Buffalo 11-yard line on the first play of a three-and-out possession early in 4th quarter in Week 13.
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I did not add up all of the sacks by players with dreads during the 2015 season; but here are the 25 players with dreads with the most sacks.
Ezekiel Ansah (DET) 14.5
Melvin Ingram (SD) 10.5
Cameron Jordan (NO) 10
Demarcus Lawrence (DAL) 8
Jabaal Sheard (NE) 8
Devin Taylor (DET) 7
Willie Young (CHI) 6.5
Pernell McPhee (CHI) 6
Jared Odrick (JAC) 5.5
Za'Darius Smith (BAL) 5.5
Ron Parker (KC) 5
Jadeveon Clowney (HOU) 4.5
Vic Beasley (ATL) 4
Bud Dupree (PIT) 4
Markus Golden (ARIZ) 4
Timmy Jernigan (BAL) 4
Lorenzo Mauldin (NYJ) 4
C.J. Mosley (BAL) 4
Shane Ray (DEN) 4
Dont'a Hightower (NE) 3.5
Denico Autry (OAK) 3
Michael Brockers (STL) 3
Malcom Brown (NE) 3
Adrian Clayborn (ATL) 3
Erik Walden (IND) 3
In case you haven't figured it out, there are no photos of Melvin Ingram, Cameron Jordan, and Demarcus Lawrence in this DG because their dreads were too short to be seen while they were getting all of their sacks.
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46. In the house calls post I did 4 weeks ago there was a photo of Sammy Watkins' second TD catch of the day in Week 12. This was the first, as the Bills WR beats not-bad coverage by Chiefs CB Sean Smith on 1st and 10 and catches the perfect pass from QB Tyrod Taylor for 28-yard TD, upping the Buffalo lead to 10-0 late in 1st quarter. It was the 4th of the 9 TD catches Watkins had during the Bills' 8-8 season.
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49. With Dwayne Harris inside the Jets' 5-yard line and about to take a punt return to the house, TE Jeff Cumberland reaches for his dreads in a last-ditch attempt to stop him but comes up empty, as Harris scores his 6th (and last) TD of the season. The 80-yard return (video on link below) gave the Giants a 7-3 lead on the first play of 2nd quarter in Week 13 in a game the Giants ended up losing 23-20 in overtime. All 6 of Dwayne's touchdowns came at big moments in games, but Giants squandered most of them, going 2-3 in the games in which he scored.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWngK4Hs-Ek
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Let's now conclude DG161 with a 6-pack of sick picks ......
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54. Chargers CB Jason Verrett makes sure the Broncos don't add to their 17-3 lead during 3rd quarter at San Diego in Week 13. As WR Emmanuel Sanders tries to catch the pass from QB Brock Osweiler on 2nd and 10 from the 27-yard line, he ends up catching a faceful of Verrett's dreads instead as Verrett gets his 2nd INT of the season in the end zone for a touchback. Jason unfortunately didn't get to enjoy his pick too much, as the score remained 17-3 for the rest of the game.
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55. One week later Jason Verrett comes up with his 3rd and final INT of the season, picking off an Alex Smith deep pass intended for WR Jeremy Maclin at the 4-yard line on the 2nd play of 2nd quarter at Kansas City, as S Jahleel Addae goes flying over them to avoid a personal foul penalty. Despite another good performance from their defense, the Chargers lost this game too 10-3. Chargers were held to 3 points by the Chiefs in both of their meetings, having already lost 33-3 in Week 11.
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56. On 1st and 10 from the Buffalo 45-yard line early in 4th quarter on Monday night in Week 11, QB Tom Brady throws a pass to WR Chris Harper for the first time all game, trying to increase the Patriots' 20-10 lead; but S Corey Graham (#20) has him blanketed and deflects the pass right to CB Stephon Gilmore, who was in the vicinity while covering TE Rob Gronkowski (#87). After making the INT at the 2-yard line, Gilmore's momentum carried him into the end zone, meaning it couldn't be a touchback; so he brought the ball out of the end zone. But that ended up not going very well for him. Bills ended up losing 13-10. This was the last of Gilmore's 3 interceptions on the season.
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57. Cardinals speedster J.J. Nelson didn't run the route that QB Carson Palmer was expecting, and the result is an easy INT for Bengals S Reggie Nelson late in 1st quarter in Week 11. Nelson returned his 5th INT of the season 23 yards to the Cincinnati 36-yard line, from where the Bengals began a drive for the first TD of the game. It was the 2nd week in a row in which Nelson picked off a pass - a streak that eventually grew to 5 (Weeks 10-14). Reggie's career high 8 INT were more than anybody else with dreads in the NFL in 2015.
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58. Before a concussion he suffered in Week 7 ended his season and sent him into retirement, CB Rashean Mathis adds one last interception to his career total, getting his 32nd on this play in Week 6. With the Lions leading 21-13, QB Jay Cutler tries to hit WR Alshon Jeffery on a fade on 2nd and goal but hits Mathis instead, ending the Bears' 2nd half opening drive. Lions eventually went on to win 37-34 in overtime to snap their season-opening 5-game losing streak. It was Rashean's only pick of the season, and his 32 career picks currently rank 3rd all-time among players with dreads - Asante Samuel (51) and Charles Tillman (38) are 1st and 2nd, and Reggie Nelson (31) hopefully will move Mathis down to 4th place sometime during 2016.
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Including the one interception that Redskins CB Bashaud Breeland made (Week 5) during the month or so he had his hair in dreads during the first half the season, there were 73 interceptions by players with dreads during the 2015 regular season. Here's the list of the players who made them.
8
Reggie Nelson (CIN)
6
Marcus Williams (NYJ)
4
Davon House (JAC)
Dwight Lowery (IND)
3
Stephon Gilmore (BUF)
Janoris Jenkins (STL)
Adam Jones (CIN)
Ron Parker (KC)
Jason Verrett (SD)
2
David Bruton (DEN)
Vontaze Burfict (CIN)
Ronald Darby (BUF)
Leodis McKelvin (BUF)
Brandon Meriweather (NYG)
Calvin Pryor (NYJ)
Richard Sherman (SEA)
Charles Tillman (CAR)
Danny Trevathan (DEN)
1
Jonathan Babineaux (ATL)
Vic Beasley (ATL)
Bashaud Breeland (WASH)
Johnathan Cyprien (JAC)
Michael Griffin (TEN)
Kemal Ishmael (ATL)
Jarvis Jones (PIT)
Rashean Mathis (DET)
Rey Maualuga (CIN)
Pernell McPhee (CHI)
Bradley Roby (DEN)
Da'Norris Searcy (TEN)
Buster Skrine (NYJ)
Desmond Trufant (ATL)
B.W. Webb (TEN)
J.J. Wilcox (DAL)
Tramon Williams (CLEV)
Willie Young (CHI)
And now, here are the 73 interceptions listed by team and division.
AFC EAST (16) NFC EAST (4)
BUF 7 DALL 1
MIA 0 NYG 2
NE 0 PHIL 0
NYJ 9 WASH 1
AFC NORTH (16) NFC NORTH (3)
BAL 0 CHI 2
CIN 14 DET 1
CLEV 1 GB 0
PIT 1 MIN 0
AFC SOUTH (12) NFC SOUTH (6)
HOU 0 ATL 4
IND 4 CAR 2
JAC 5 NO 0
TEN 3 TB 0
AFC WEST (11) NFC WEST (5)
DEN 5 ARIZ 0
KC 3 STL 3
OAK 0 SF 0
SD 3 SEA 2
PLAYOFF INT (2) - Vontaze Burfict 1, Trae Waynes (MIN) 1
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