Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers have traded for cornerback Brandon Boykin, I thought I would take a quick look at his seven career interceptions and break them down for you.
Boykin’s first career interception came in 2013 in the first game of the season against the Washington Redskins.
This is just a simple cover-2 defense with man coverage underneath. Boykin, in the slot, has inside leverage and trails wide receiver Santana Moss step for step before undercutting the route and picking off the ill-advised throw from Robert Griffin III. Notice how he gets his head around quickly to find the ball and how he stays in phase all throughout the route.
Boykin’s second career interception is a duplicate of his first and it came against the New York Giants and wide receiver Victor Cruz. Again, cover-2 with trail coverage. He walls off Cruz’s to the inside.
In the 2013 game against the Green Bay Packers, Boykin is able to quickly undercut a late throw by quarterback Scott Tolzien to wide receiver Jordy Nelson. The Packers ran the outside receiver on that side to the inside to free up space against a cover-0 defense.
You might remember this interception against the Redskins in 2013 as it came on the final play of the game. Boykin talked about it after the game. He had double coverage on the slot receiver and once that player broke to the outside, he looked to help elsewhere. Griffin threw the ball up for grabs and Boykin tracked it for a nice interception in the back of the end zone for the win.
Boykin’s interception for a touchdown against the Chicago Bears in 2013 was a result of nice read on a zone drop in a cover-3 defense. Boykin passes off the slot receiver and wisely breaks on the outside curl route. Quarterback Jay Cutler was baited right into this one.
Late in the 2013 game against the Dallas Cowboys, Boykin picks off a very poor throw from quarterback Kyle Orton to wide receiver Miles Austin. Orton wanted to go to tight end Jason Witten on this play but he was double covered. Boykin never opens his hips as he has help behind him in this cover-1 defense and that allows him to click and close on the ill-advised throw that was thrown a bit behind Austin.
Boykin only had one interception in 2014 and it was a nice one against the Tennessee Titans. On this play, he walls off the No. 2 wide receiver and then finds the No. 1 wide receiver on the outside, who is breaking inside. Boykin breaks nicely on the route and finds the ball quickly.
