Cowboys CB DaRon Bland wins NFC Defensive Player of the Week
How do you appropriately honor a fourth pick six? Well, if your Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland, you can celebrate your first-ever NFC defender of the week honor.
And as the Cowboys posted on X (formerly Twitter), it is a “well deserved” honor for Bland. Wonder how he’ll commemorate pick six No. 5 if he’s fortunate enough to snag another interception for a touchdown this season. Because, then he would own the NFL record.
Purdy, Evans join Bland as NFC players of the week
The NFL announced its players of the week for both the NFC and AFC on this Thanksgiving eve. San Francisco 49er quarterback Brock Purdy won offensive honors while the league named Rams punter Ethan Evans as special teamer of the week. Meanwhile, on the AFC side, the league named Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, Dolphins cornerback Jalen Ramsey and Bills fullback Jason Gilliam for AFC honors.
Although the Cowboys beat up on the Panthers, which has the worst record of the year, Bland still made a big splash with his fourth touchdown of the season. He’s now tied with three other players for the most interception returns for a touchdown in a single season. Houston Oiler Ken Houston broke the record first back in 1971. Then Jim Kearney of the Chiefs tied it the following season. And 21 years after Kearney, Eagles standout Eric Allen added his name to the record.
Want to see the return again? Check out the video shared by Jon Machota, who covers the Cowboys for The Athletic.
Bland’s six interceptions leads Cowboys secondary
Bland would love to break the record. And he has plenty of games to do so. Try seven more to get one pick six. However, for context, when Houston and Kearney returned their four, the NFL played a 14-game regular season schedule. Then Allen had the benefit of 16 games three decades ago.
“It just makes another goal to break it,” Bland said, via the Cowboys official website. “I think it was when I touched the end zone, it was like, ‘Wow, I just did it. I tied the record.’ I’m level-headed now and I want to go break it. …
“It wasn’t really about the record. It’s really about being in the history books, being remembered.”
Still, it’s already a significant accomplishment to create such chaos for opposing offenses. A pick six feels as emphastic as a grand slam in baseball. The only NFL player who is even pick six adjacent is Colts cornerback Kenny Moore, who has returned two of his three interceptions for touchdowns.
It’s all really good for the second-year Cowboys player. Dallas found him in last year’s fifth-round out of Fresno State. And now he’s on the verge of breaking NFL history. He opened the season with a pick six against the Giants, then followed it up with TDs against the Patriots and Rams.