It stands to reason that in the NFL’s 17-game first regular season, records will fall.
An extra game for all 32 teams means more plays, more yards, more points to put on the board.
No one in their right mind would have thought it could be the record for interceptions.
A mark that Dick “Night Train” Lane set for the Los Angeles Rams 69 years ago could be in jeopardy.
That’s because Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs is doing his best to drive opponents crazy when he produced his sixth interception of the season in Sunday’s game that Dallas beat the New York Giants 44-20 in the AT&T Stadium.
“I’m taking one game at a time, trying to dominate,” Diggs said.
“I keep doing that, the sky is the limit. I don’t know where I could go, ”said the Dallas team player.
Heaven is Lane’s record of 14 interceptions in a 12-game season.
If anyone thinks Diggs’s pursuit of the record in a much longer season deserves some kind of asterisk, they are not paying attention to changes in the modern game.
Diggs is playing in the era of professional football where even the best quarterbacks in the league throw three- to five-yard passes to maintain offensive sequences and prevent turnovers.
In 1952, most quarterbacks threw more interceptions than touchdowns.
That Diggs already has six passes intercepted this season is remarkable.
That he is doing it as a Cowboys player is not typical.
Everson Walls, the only player to lead the NFL in interceptions three times, last claimed the honor in 1985.
He was the last Cowboys player to lead the league.
Since he intercepted 11 passes as a rookie, no one has intercepted more than 10.
The league leader is typically in the range of seven to nine intercepted passes.
Diggs can tie the NFL record for a consecutive game streak (six, held by three players, including Tom Landry of the New York Giants in 1951) if he intercepts New England Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones, the next Sunday.