Seahawks Summer School: Breaking Down Quandre Diggs' INTs From Last Season

One of the best turnover-creating defensive backs in the NFL for over half a decade, Quandre Diggs returned from a gruesome injury and posted his sixth straight season with at least three interceptions while making his third Pro Bowl team for the Seattle Seahawks. How did he get the job done on his four picks last season?

Since arriving as a trade deadline acquisition midway through the 2019 season, few players have created more turnovers than Seattle Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs, who has earned Pro Bowl honors each of the past three seasons roaming centerfield as one of the NFL's premier ball hawks.

Dating back to the start of the 2019 campaign, only Chargers cornerback J.C. Jackson and Broncos safety Justin Simmons have intercepted more passes than Diggs, who has been a beacon of consistency with at least four picks in each of the previous three seasons. Finishing with four interceptions last season, he extended his streak as the only active player in the NFL with six straight seasons recording three or more interceptions.

Most impressively, Diggs kept both of those streaks intact despite struggling through a slow start in his return from a fractured fibula and dislocated ankle. After spending most of the first half of the season trying to get his feet fully back underneath him and failing to pick off a pass in the first 10 games, he finished on a torrid tear, intercepting four passes in Seattle's final seven contests.

Kicking off our "Seahawks Summer School" series, let's take a close look at all four of Diggs' interceptions on the way to his third consecutive Pro Bowl selection.

Interception No. 1 - vs. Raiders (First Quarter, 14:55)

Mired in his longest drought without an interception since 2018 with the Lions, Diggs wasted little time putting the streak to rest on the first play from scrimmage against the Raiders with a highlight-reel pick against Derek Carr.

Pre-snap, Diggs and fellow safety Ryan Neal looked to be in a two-deep shell. However, Neal slowly started to walk up towards the line of scrimmage and shot up to the box after Carr took the snap from under center, settling into an underneath curl/flat responsibility with Diggs as the lone deep safety. Up front, Uchenna Nwosu dropped back into a hook/curl zone as another underneath defender.

Rotating coverage towards the strong tight end side of the Raiders two-by-two formation, the Seahawks deploy Cover 9, an inverted version of Cover 6 featuring one side of the field with cornerbacks Mike Jackson and Coby Bryant in a quarter-quarter look like Cover 4 and the other side with Diggs covering half of the field as well as cornerback Tariq Woolen in the flats like Cover 2.

Quickly reading Davante Adams running a 12-yard drag route with Bryant in trail off of play action, taking advantage of a poor throw from a heavily pressured Carr, Diggs dives for an outstanding interception. Untouched on the ground, he promptly gets to his feet and picks up good yardage behind his blockers, including Darrell Taylor, who illegally rushed onto the field to celebrate before the play was blown dead.

Interception No. 2 - vs. Raiders (First Quarter, 6:04)

After 40 quarters of play before registering his first interception of the season, Diggs didn't have to wait nearly as long to get his hands on the football again, capitalizing on a great play by teammate Cody Barton to snag his second pick against Carr in a matter of minutes.

Breaking the huddle in 11 personnel with a two-by-two singleback ace formation, the Raiders dial up play again from under center and Carr tries to push the ball down the seam to tight end Foster Moreau. With the Seahawks running a Cover 4 quarters look, Barton's first responsibility is to pick up the flats, but without an immediate threat to cover, he stays on Moreau's hip covering him downfield.

Eyeing Carr from his middle of field open two-high zone drop, Diggs turns and sprints as the quarterback winds up to throw, quickly closing in on Moreau. In the right place at the right time, he snags the ball out of the air after Barton gets his hands on the pass for a deflection, returning the interception 15 yards to put the Seahawks in scoring position once again.

Interception No. 3 - vs. Jets (First Quarter, 11:23)

Fast forwarding to Week 17, Diggs went four games without an interception, though he missed a couple of great opportunities, including botching a gift-wrapped pick opportunity given to him by 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy in a Week 15 loss.

Seeking a bit of redemption, just as he did against the Raiders earlier in the season, Diggs added to his total early against overly aggressive Jets quarterback Mike White. With the visitors past midfield on their first possession and deploying a trips left bunch set, the Seahawks call Cover 1 Robber with Diggs as the single-high safety, Teez Tabor moving into a zone in the middle of the field to "rob" or take away crossing routes, and man coverage underneath.

Getting the matchup he desired, White quickly identifies receiver Denzel Mims with a step on safety Jonathan Abram on a slot fade. However, he doesn't see Diggs already has a beat to help out on the route and with his throw hanging forever and falling well short of the intended target, the veteran safety plucked the ball out of the air and returned the turnover 25 yards close to midfield to set the Seahawks up with excellent field position for an eventual field goal.

Interception No. 4 - vs. Rams (Overtime, 8:33)

With a playoff berth still hanging in the balance in the regular season finale, Diggs earned himself Defensive Player of the Week honors in the NFC by saving the Seahawks season with a clutch overtime pick against the Rams.

Knotted up at 16 nearly halfway through the bonus period, the Rams exited the huddle with 11 personnel and lined up in a trips left singleback formation. On the opposite side of the ball, the Seahawks called Cover 3 "Sky," where one of the safeties slides up to take a curl/flat assignment in one of the two outside underneath zones and the other safety drops back into a middle-of-field closed look.

In this instance, Abram walks up pre-snap and settles into an underneath zone, while Diggs backpedals into his typical center field duties. Maximizing protection, the Rams keep eight blockers in front of Baker Mayfield, including the slot receiver coming from across the formation as an extra protector, sending only two receivers out to run routes. 

Despite having only two receivers running routes, however, the Rams made an ideal call to attack Cover 3 with Van Jefferson running a skinny corner down the hash and a motioning Tutu Atwell running a 12-yard comeback to occupy Woolen. This created a void downfield and Jefferson came wide open without a defender anywhere near him.

But thankfully for the Seahawks, Mayfield didn't get enough air under his throw in the cold Pacific Northwest air and Jefferson was forced to slow down to come back to the ball, allowing Diggs to use his outstanding speed to undercut the route for a season-saving pick and then showboat to former (and now current) teammate Bobby Wagner along the sideline. Hours later, the Detroit Lions helped out their former star by beating the Green Bay Packers, sending him back to the postseason.

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