DaRon Bland equals NFL single-season Pick-Six record now vows to “Break it”

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One of the unsung Dallas heroes to this point of the season put his name in the NFL record books on Sunday.

Coming into 2023, Dallas Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland was expected to primarily get second-team reps on defense after the team signed Trevon Diggs to a five-year, $97 million extension.

In early September, though, the Cowboys 2022 fifth-round pick out of Fresno State became a starting corner when Diggs tore his ACL and he hasn’t looked back.

The addition of Bland to the cover game has arguably made an already formidable Cowboys secondary even better.

After 10 games this season, the Cowboys sit second in the league in yards allowed per game (266.3) while giving up a mere 157.1 yards through the air per contest, the second-fewest in the NFL behind the Cleveland Browns (143.7).

DaRon is anything but bland

Cambridge Dictionary defines bland as “not having a strong taste or character or not showing any interest or energy.”

None of that would apply to the Cowboys’ emerging star cornerback, who has looked unbeatable when the ball is thrown towards his side of the field.

In their 33-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, Bland had his fourth pick-six of the campaign, equalling a single-season NFL record.

The 24-year-old continues to make his case for Defensive Player of the Year, while his five interceptions this season are second in the NFL behind Baltimore Ravens safety Geno Stone (six).

Eric Allen (1993), Jim Kearney (1972) and Ken Houston (1971) are the only other players to have as many pick-sixes in one season as Bland.

After their victory, Bland said he’s hungry for more.

“It just makes for another goal for me — to break it,” Bland said.

Even his head coach, Mike McCarthy, has been pleasantly surprised with how quickly the youngster has progressed in year two.

“It’s just remarkable for a young player,” McCarthy said. “You just watch the way he plays. It’s a great example of the details that he plays with, especially for a young corner. … I just can’t say enough about him.”

McCarthy called Bland’s pick-six on Sunday a game-changing play.

“Those plays change the course of games, and that play clearly put us in the driver’s seat,” he said.

Chasing More History

While Trevon Diggs has been talking on social media, his replacement has done all his talking on the field.

Four interceptions for touchdowns is quite an achievement, but Bland will have plenty more opportunities to make more history this season.

Dallas has seven regular season games remaining, and Diggs needs to find the end zone just one more time on an interception to set the single-season record.

Rod Woodson currently holds the NFL record for career pick-sixes with 12.

It took the Hall of Fame cornerback until year 16 over his 17-year career to reach that number, and Bland is already nearly halfway towards that mark.

In his 27 NFL games played in the regular season so far, Bland has 11 interceptions.