Quin, Ihedigbo Set Up Game-Changing Interception By Following Instincts
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
FORD FIELD (CBS DETROIT) - Once again, the Detroit Lions needed the defense to go above and beyond Sunday.
Once again, the defense delivered, and the Lions defeated the New Orleans Saints, 24-23, and moved to 5-2 on the season.
The Lions trailed by 10 points when the Saints snagged an interception in the middle of the fourth quarter. New Orleans tacked on another three points, so Detroit would need two touchdowns to win. With just more than five minutes remaining, time would have been an issue even if the Lions had not been missing offensive weapons Calvin Johnson, Eric Ebron and Joe Fauria.
The offense had struggled all game, but quarterback Matthew Stafford connected with wide receiver Golden Tate - whose moves in the open field are quickly becoming legendary - and Tate ran 65 yards after the catch for a touchdown that brought the Lions within six.
New Orleans got the ball back with 3:38 to play. This time it was Detroit coming up with an interception, and the big pick came courtesy of veteran safety Glover Quin, who said the play started with a great call from the coaches and pressure from the defensive line.
Perhaps most importantly, though, Quin and fellow safety James Ihedigbo got creative.
"Me and Diggs switched up something we had been doing all game and gave a different look," Quin said. "We knew on third downs that [Saints quarterback] Drew [Brees] likes to go to the sticks, and he likes to throw it in the middle of the field, somebody right in front of somebody in his vision, and so everything worked out perfectly. We got a great rush from our d-line, Drew was under duress, and he stepped up, the d-line was closing in on him and he kind of tried to look me off a little bit, but he was trying to hit the tight end or somebody coming right across the field, so all the film study, all the preparation added up, and we was able to make a big play."
Quin elaborated on the adjustment he and Ihedigbo made.
"[The Saints] made a call, and normally before that call, Dig is the low guy and I'm the high guy," Quin said, "but we've been doing that all season, so Drew is a smart guy, we gave him his respect, we figured he would know that, so we switched it up a little bit, and Diggs stayed high, and I was the low guy, but the look that we gave, it didn't look like I was the low guy. I knew it was third and 10, so the routes were going to be deeper routes. It wasn't going to be a quick slant or something like that, so we had a little time, so I was able to hang a little high and make it look like what he was expecting, and I dropped down and he threw it right to me."
Quin's grab and 23-yard interception return put the Lions on the 14-yard line of New Orleans, and from there the offense got the go-ahead touchdown.
That Quin was the one to come through with arguably the biggest play of the game - Tate's 73-yard play has a decent case, too, of course - did not surprise head coach Jim Caldwell in the least.
"He's one of those guys that every day in practice you hear him talking to the corners, talking to the linebackers, having discussions, 'Hey, you're supposed to be here,' or 'This is supposed to happen,' 'This is what it's going to look like,' 'I'm going to be in this position,'" Caldwell said. "His communication skills are great just in terms of football. His football IQ is off the charts, and between he and Diggs, both our two safeties are experienced guys, and that experience is absolutely invaluable, and he's one of those guys that he just has a knack for coming up with a big play at the right time. He's not afraid to go after it, and you certainly appreciate it."
Quin has spoken before about how the coaching staff welcomes input from players throughout the week, discussing their ideas and sometimes implementing their suggestions. Coaches also give the players some leeway on the field, trusting their instincts.
"The coaches have great confidence in us in the secondary," Quin said. "We have great dialogue throughout the week, talking about looks and things that we want to do. We have great dialogue during the game, trying to make adjustments and just trying to put guys in positions to make plays, and the coaches give us freedom to make certain calls on the field, to do certain things, as long as we're communicating and got everybody on the same page. They do a great job of letting the players play."
The Lions were averaging 270.7 yards allowed going into Sunday's game, but they gave up 408 yards to Saints, the NFL's second-ranked offense. Detroit had also been allowing just 13.7 points on average, and New Orleans surpassed that mark by a significant margin.
At the end of the day, none of that mattered to the Lions.
"You look at statistics and you're not going to see anything pretty," Caldwell said, "but nevertheless, I think it shows you a little bit about the character of this team."