Bills CB Taron Johnson was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week after his Week 10 performance against the Indianapolis Colts.
This is Johnson's first AFC Defensive Player of the Week award in his seven-year career.
In the 30-20 victory over the Colts, Johnson filled up the stat sheet, recording 3 tackles, 1.0 sack, 2 passes deflected and an interception that he returned for a touchdown on the Colts' first play from scrimmage.
"I've seen that play before, against a different team… And then I took the ball. And after that, I just scanned the field and took it to the house," Johnson said.
Johnson set the tone for the day as the defense dominated the Colts, taking the ball away three more times and sacking QB Joe Flacco an additional three times.
"Taron is a playmaker," LB Terrel Bernard said. "And first play getting the pick six sets the tone for the game, the energy gets the mindset right. Starts us off on a good foot. We lean on Taron to make plays like that. It was huge for us."
Johnson expressed that on the pick-six, he had seen the same play earlier in the season and played it differently than he had the last time he saw it.
"He's one of our leaders," head coach Sean McDermott said. "When you lead by example – everyone is going to make mistakes, but when you can learn from it, this is quite honestly, a copycat league where people try the same plays sometimes week-to-week. And right away, the first play was one of those plays, and he picked it."
When asked if it feels like these opportunities come in bunches, Johnson responded by saying that he will simply continue to prepare for when it's his time to make a play.
"I would like to think that way, but you just never know when your opportunity is going to come," Johnson said. "So just making sure that I'm doing everything I can throughout the week to make the play when my opportunity comes."
