Wilfork's Late Interception Seals Pats' Win

That's right, this wasn't Wilfork's first career interception. Or his second. He has three.

Vince Wilfork isn't your typical 6-2, 325-pound nose tackle. Nope, he's so much more than that as evidenced by his fourth-quarter interception against the Raiders on Sunday that sealed the Patriots' 16-9 victory.

(You can view Wilfork's interception in all its magnificence right here).

“Wilfork Island? He kind of called that he would get another one this year,” safety Devin McCourty said, via ESPN.com. “Hopefully we’ll slow him down and pick up our play. We don’t want him at the top of the leaderboard. He could have worked on his run after the catch, but I think he is so smart and he knows situational football that he just got down and let the offense come on and take a couple of knees.”

That's right, this wasn't Wilfork's first career interception. Or his second. He has three -- and two against the Raiders.

“We always try to tell people to stay in front of the quarterback and maybe you can get a tipped ball or bat a ball down or something like that,” Wilfork said. “I was more concerned not to get tied up, so I hit the center and then I kind of came back and they started following me a little bit -- I thought it was going to be illegal men down the field.

“After that, I saw the quarterback release the ball and I just turned. I had some defenders there with me and the ball bobbled and luckily I just came up with the play. That was a great defensive play. I was just happening to catch it."

And like a wide receiver who catches the game-winning touchdown, Wilfork pointed out that that he couldn't have made the play without the help of his teammates.

“The credit doesn’t go all to me; the credit goes to the defense,” he said. “Because without the coverage in the end zone, without the man-to-man coverage we were in, without the bobbled ball, without the two other guys on the line of scrimmage rushing with me, that play probably wouldn’t have happened, so that’s a great defensive play.”

It's only a matter of time before coach Bill Belichick has Wilfork lining up at tight end.

Contact Us