WOODLAND HILLS, Calif. – When a pass has been headed their way, there's a good chance Rams cornerback Trent McDuffie or safety Quentin Lake have swatted it away or collected it as an interception.
Entering Week 3, both players are tied for the league lead in passes defensed with six each, which includes an each interception to their name.
The majority of that production came Monday night, when McDuffie had a team-high four passes defensed followed by Lake's three.
For McDuffie, one of those was an interception on an underthrown deep ball by Giants quarterback Jameis Winston intended for wide receiver Malik Nabers. McDuffie also had a critical pass breakup on a Winston deep right pass intended for Nabers early in the third quarter, that, had it been completed, would've put New York in Los Angeles territory.
"For me, I think of it as DBs, we don't have truly that many plays in a game that you're getting the ball thrown your way, and so we always talk about, when the ball's in your way, you gotta make a play because that's your one opportunity," McDuffie told therams.com. "And I feel like over the years, there's been a lot of talk about just the comfortability when that ball's in there, especially a deep ball. When me and the receiver are sprinting down the down the field, it's a 60-yard ball, how calm, how patient can I be so that I don't scramble and now it's a PI (pass interference), or I don't turn my head and now flags are being thrown. Like how comfortable am I just turning around, seeing the ball and becoming the receiver? And I think that's kind of showing up this year in terms of just really thinking about when the ball is in the air of making a play instead of just being like, okay, let's have a PBU."
Meanwhile, each of Lake's passes defensed kept the Giants in 2nd- or 3rd-and-long – commonly referred to as known passing situations – which in turn helped the Rams pass rush get after the quarterback.
"I just think when preparation and opportunity meet, you're able to go out there and make plays," Lake told therams.com. "We got a lot of opportunities where balls are coming our way, and luckily we've been able to make a lot of plays on them, so it's been fun. I always like that. I love the challenge of ... it's funny, my dad always told me this. He said 'every every play is a big play,' and for me it's (that) I've just kind of been in the fire a lot, which has been awesome, and I think that shows in terms of the stats. But it's never about the stats; it's just being able to do my job every step."
Defensive coordinator Chris Shula on Thursday credited their abilities in coverage to McDuffie's calm demeanor and poise, and Lake's preparation and anticipation.
"(McDuffie is) always in the right spot, very calm with the ball in the air," Shula said. "Did an awesome job when he was asked to play man coverage, did an awesome job in some of his run replacements in some of our zones and stuff like that.
"Q's been doing that really ever since we put him at Star, which was in 2023, and obviously he's been playing pretty much exclusively there the last couple years, and he's just really covered. I think a lot of it's his preparation. He understands route concepts. He can eliminate routes in his mind based off splits, based off how offense is aligned. So he can anticipate stuff and use it to the best of ability. And he's an incredible athlete."
The Broncos will take the field Sunday night with one of the NFL's most talented passing attacks, between quarterback Bo Nix and wide receivers Courtland Sutton and Jaylen Waddle. Waddle found his stride with his new team, hauling in eight of a team-high 10 targets for 138 yards in a 20-13 win over the Jaguars last week. So, those timely plays against the pass from McDuffie, Lake and the rest of L.A.'s secondary will be critical in keeping Denver's offense off the field.
"I think whoever's on the field, everybody's confident that they're also going to be on the same page and know what to do," McDuffie said.
