Amani Oruwariye had his third interception of the season Sunday, which matches his total from the first two years of his career.
Oruwariye chalked his latest pick up to luck.
“Right place at the right time,” he said after the 34-11 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
But in a mostly dismal season, the third-year cornerback has emerged as one of the few players who seems like a keeper in the Detroit Lions‘ latest rebuild.
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“I’m just trying to make that turnover for our team whenever I can,” Oruwariye said. “When the ball’s there, I’ve always tried to just be that guy to make the play so happy I can do that.”
A fifth-round pick out of Penn State in 2019, Oruwariye is one of two Lions to play every defensive snap this season along with linebacker Alex Anzalone.
He had a rough game in coverage a week ago against the Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson, but when left at right cornerback has been the Lions’ most consistent defensive back this year.
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Oruwariye’s hot streak of takeaways started in the Lions’ Week 3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens when he intercepted a Lamar Jackson pass in the fourth quarter. Jackson overthrew his intended receiver, Sammy Watkins on the play, and Oruwariye came off his man in coverage, Marquise Brown, to make the easy pick.
A week later, he made a diving interception on a Justin Fields pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage. And vs. the Bengals, he snagged a Joe Burrow pass that sailed through Ja’Marr Chase’s hands.
Two of Oruwariye’s three takeaways have come in opponent territory, and his interception against the Ravens set up Ryan Santoso’s go-ahead field goal before Jackson rallied Baltimore for a last-second win.
On Sunday, Oruwariye’s interception was part of a solid first-half defensive showing before the Lions wilted in the final 30 minutes. The Bengals (4-2) had four first downs on their first five possessions, and led 7-0 before mounting a short field goal drive to close out the second quarter.
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They went 75 yards in eight plays for a touchdown on the opening drive of the second half, and scored the next three times they had the ball before ending the game with two kneel-down snaps on their final possession.
“It just didn’t seem like the same defense,” Oruwariye said. “I’m going to be honest, like I thought the first half we came out, we executed the game plan, they got a score and a field goal, but we felt pretty good in the first half. Second half, we just got to tackle better, we got to run to the ball better. All around, we got to be better and help our offense out.”
The Lions’ biggest struggles Sunday came on the offensive side of the ball. Jared Goff had 82 yards passing through three quarters, and the Lions averaged 2 yards per carry against a tough Bengals defense.
But Lions coach Dan Campbell he expects more from his defense in games like Sunday, and Oruwariye said it is up to that unit to deliver.
“If the offense doesn’t score, it should be 0-0,” Oruwariye said. “That’s the only way I can really put it. We got to find a way to keep getting stops and help them out as much as we can. But they’ll be fine. I promise you, they’ll be fine.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.