Anatomy of a Touchdown Week 10:
Eric Berry’s Epic Interception to the House
We all watched what happened this past Sunday in Charlotte, North Carolina as the Kansas City Chiefs traveled to meet the defending NFC Champion Carolina Panthers. We all saw when this Chiefs’ defense took on the reigning NFL MVP, Cam Newton. We all witnessed it, but I don’t think any of us still believe it.
Didn’t see it, or need a refresher? The Chiefs were down 17-3 at halftime. It was the worst game quarterback Alex Smith has played since he’s worn an arrowhead on the side of his helmet. The Chiefs did not score an offensive touchdown. Still, somehow they managed to come back and beat the Panthers 20-17 as time expired in the fourth quarter. It was something like I’ve never seen. In the midst of it all, one man put the entire team on his back and said “we’re not losing this game. Not today.”
Actually…I don’t know if he really said that, but if I was making a movie about this game, and the lead character in the movie did what safety Eric Berry did in the climatic scene, that’s the dialogue I would write for him. I’m just saying…
Here’s the setup:
With time running out in the game, the Panthers had just finished a 20-play offensive drive to close out the third quarter. The black and blue drove deep into Chiefs’ territory and were well within field goal range, which would have made it a three-score game and effectively out of reach for the red and gold. However, after suffering back-to-back sacks by Dee “I lead the NFL in sacks” Ford and Chris “I can play quarterback better than Cam Newton” Jones, the Panthers were forced to punt. The subsequent drive by the Chiefs ended with a Cairo “I’m a clutch kicker even if I look like a fifth grader” Santos — okay, I’ll stop with the nicknames — and made the score 17-6 with just over eleven minutes left.
That’s where Eric “I’m putting this team on my back” Berry — sorry, I couldn’t resist…last one, I promise — came into play.
As the play began, the Panthers lined up in a funky, five-wide formation. However, instead of the wide receivers split-out wide, all five were close in to the line of scrimmage. The Chiefs countered with a dime formation, having only two lineman and three linebackers with seven defensive backs on the field. But, instead of going with a prevent-style play that is normally associated with dime, defensive coordinator Bob Sutton cleverly disguised a safety blitz into his plan, sending Ron Parker and Daniel Sorenson up the middle.
The scheme drawn up by Sutton was simple: linebacker Derrick Johnson lined up just off the right hip of Jones. Simultaneously, Parker moved forward to the line of scrimmage. His part in the blitz was disguised, because in Newton’s mind he could be moving up to cover his man at the line of scrimmage.
Here’s where it all went wrong for the Panthers. Gino Gradkowski, formerly of the Atlanta Falcons by-way of the Baltimore Ravens was the starting center on Sunday in place of the injured Ryan Kalil. When Derrick “The Ageless Wonder” Johnson — Oh come on, he’s already had that nickname forever — made his move to the right, Gradkowski chose to double-team him with left guard Andrew Norwell. Unfortunately for him… and the Panthers if I’m being honest… that left a gaping hole in the middle of the line big enough to drive my 2013 Dodge Ram 2500 through. It was certainly big enough for a sprinting Sorenson and Parker to slice through, en route to Newton. As you can see by where Gradkowski’s eye-line is, he realized his mistake immediately, but it was already too late.
At this point, I would like to point out that Cam Newton is a very good quarterback. This is evidenced by the fact he was named the NFL MVP last season and led his team to the Super Bowl. He is a true dual-threat guy, and is well on his way to a hall-of-fame career. But, as much as he likes to think he’s Superman, he’s just a human… a human that panics when he sees two NFL safeties bearing down on him at full speed, unimpeded at the line of scrimmage. Because of that, Cam did the only thing he could do — besides lay down and cry — he tried to throw the ball away, while retreating, off of his back foot. His intended receiver was his most reliable target, tight end Greg Olsen. Even given the poor mechanics of his throw, the odds were good that it was completed, because Olsen is in single coverage and the nearest second defender was 10 yards away. The only problem: the nearest second defender was Eric Berry.
Berry knew Newton was going to release the ball, likely before Newton did. In fact, in the post-game press conference, Reid alluded to Berry’s “Sixth Sense” and ability to get a turnover.
“He wills himself like no other. You saw it when he defeated cancer. You saw it here. That’s just his mentality. It’s unbelievable.” – Andy Reid
More so than the Reid comment though, Berry’s teammate Marcus Peters talked about Berry in the locker room following the victory. When asked to break down the play, Peters had this to say about his teammate:
“He was a possessed man. He told us we were going to get a turnover when we went out there. You just saw it how he was moving. He wasn’t fixin’ to stop.” – Marcus Peters
This reminds me of the play Berry made against the New York “football” Giants — I’m sorry, I really don’t know what’s wrong with me and these nicknames this week — in Week 4 of the 2013 season. Berry happened to mic’d up for that game, and prior to the play where he literally took the ball away from quarterback Eli Manning, Berry was heard on the sidelines saying “Eli’s about to give me one. He’s about to throw me one. Or he’s about to cough it up.”
As the defense went on the field, Berry was a “man possessed” much as Peters described him on Sunday. He was staring down the younger Manning brother, chanting over and over again “give me that ball Eli. Give me that ball, Eli.” As the play began, Manning attempted a handoff that came loose. Somehow, Berry happened to be in the exact spot the ball bounced, and it landed right in his gut. As he joyously ran off the field, he was screaming “GIVE ME THAT BALL ELI!!!”
If Berry isn’t magic, I can’t explain it. But this time, he didn’t just call the pick. This time, he didn’t just take the ball away from his boyhood friend–and sometimes opponent–Cam Newton. This time what he did was, perhaps, even more magical than the interception itself.
He caught the ball on the Panthers 42-yard line and immediately began running on the return in more or less a straight line, up the sideline. When he hit the 22-yard line (a return of 20 yards) he encountered his first would-be tackler.
In a feat of brute strength, he fought off the tackler, and instead of running straight ahead again, he reversed field, back to the 25-yard line, all the way across the field, and took an angle to the opposite (left side) pylon.
With a convoy of Chiefs to block for him, Berry looked for the pylon. Ironically, the only Panther who had a chance of stopping Berry from scoring was Newton. To his credit, he was tracking his old friend — and nemesis — to the end zone, trying to find the best angle to intercept him… no pun intended.
As Berry reached pay dirt, Newton had caught up to him as well as wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr., and running back Fozzy Whitaker. But, not to be denied, Berry knew exactly where he needed to be and managed to break the plane, scoring the six points needed.
It was an incredible play, to say the least. Officially credited as a 42-yard interception, returned for a touchdown, it was nearly impossible. However, that wasn’t the whole story. You see, Berry didn’t make a 42-yard interception return for a touchdown. No, he made an 85-yard interception return for a touchdown.
I don’t have the fancy “next-gen” stat tracker, but I have my eyes and a calculator. An NFL football field is 53 and one-third yards (160 feet) wide. Berry was approximately 10 and two-thirds yards from the sideline when he caught the ball. He moved 20 yards forward to the 22-yard line before moving backwards to the 25 yard line. He then moved 42 yards laterally to the opposite side of the field and 25 yards forward to score the touchdown. On a bar napkin, after a couple of beers, all of that running equals 85 yards for the score. Absolutely incredible.
Regardless of how it goes down in the stat books, it was the play that turned the tide for the Chiefs and completely demoralized the Panthers.
This week, I thought I would do something different. Instead of just posting a “gif” of the play and letting you watch that, because I really love you, my readers, and this play was REALLY special, here’s the video of the play, dubbed with Mitch “The Voice of the Chiefs” Holthus — that’s his actual name, I swear — to even further mark this outstanding play.
I would like to close by saying, if there’s a version of this Chiefs team without Eric Berry in the future, I’m not quite sure I want to be a part of it. He’s a special player and a special person. As always, thank you for reading! I look forward to your comments below!