COWBOYS
Cowboys’ DaRon Bland ties record with fourth pick-6: Who else held the pick-6 record?
The Cowboys cornerback notched his fourth pick-6 of the season, tying an NFL record as the only defenders with four pick-sixes in a single season.
When Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland was in high school, he logged three pick-sixes, and he made it a trend for the rest of his football career, saying just recently that he wanted to “make it my thing”. Well, it seems he’s done that. During the Cowboys’ game against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, Bland notched his fourth pick-six of the season (and sixth interception).
The Panthers rookie quarterback Bryce Young intended to throw to receiver Jonathan Mingo, but Bland undercut the pass to catch it, tumbled and rolled, got back up, and ran the ball 31 yards into the end zone for the touchdown to give the Cowboys a 30-10 lead.
Most pick-sixes in a single season
With four pick-sixes this season, Bland ties the record for defender with the most pick-sixes in a single season and the first to do so in three decades. The other defenders to accomplish this feat were Ken Houston in 1971 with the Houston Oilers, Jim Kearney in 1972 with the Chiefs, and most recently, Eric Allen with the Eagles in 1993. Bland is in just his second season in the NFL and already has 11 interceptions, the most in the NFL over that period of time.
Bland also happened to tie with tight end Jake Ferguson for the Cowboy with the second-most touchdowns, behind wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who has six. Bland’s other pick-sixes this season came against the New York Giants in Week 1 (22 yards), the New England Patriots in Week 4 (54 yards), and the Los Angeles Rams in Week 7 (30 yards). At this rate, he could break the others’ records by the end of the season.