SECOND DOWN: CLUTCH KERBY
After racking up seven interceptions in his first 10 games of the season, Lions safety Kerby Joseph was on a five-game drought.
That came to an end Monday night in Santa Clara as Joesph came up with two huge second-half interceptions that Detroit turned into 13 points in a win over the San Francisco 49ers to improve to 14-2 on the year.
Joseph is the first Lions safety to record nine-plus interceptions and a pick-six in a season since Jack Christiansen (1957). He is also the first Lions player since Jimmy Allen (1981) to record nine interceptions in a season.
“Really proud of him because it’s what we talked about,” Campbell said of there being an emphasis on creating takeaways this week. “When we needed it the most, man, he came up big. We’ve been talking about it and we knew we needed to get takeaways and it was just another example of playing complementary football.
“Man, he came up in a big way. Not just the picks but he had some critical tackles in this game and really showed up for us. It was big.”
Joseph said his super power is taking the football away and he’s glad he got back to it. He had one earlier in the game that was called back due to a penalty.
“I envisioned it,” Joseph said of the success both he and the team have had this season. “I knew this was going to happen. I didn’t put a number on it, I just wanted to lead the pack. I wanted to separate myself and be different. I want to be great in this league. I don’t want to be no average Joe. I want to be great.”