Kansas City, Mo. – Jalen Carter was close. Very close.
Just before the end of the first half Monday night, Patrick Mahomes spiked the football with 2 seconds left on the clock, so Harrison Butker made a 43-yard field goal to extend the lead.
But in the spike, rookie Jalen Carter dove between the legs of center Creed Humphrey and would have had a wild interception in the Eagles’ eventual 21-17 win at Arrowhead Stadium.
An interception on that play would have essentially stolen three points from the Chiefs. After the game, several of Carter’s teammates said they had never seen that effort before.
Where did Carter get the idea for that play?
“I saw it on YouTube and some high school kid tried it and he really got into it,” Carter said. “I tried it and I didn’t like it.”
Watch the YouTube clip Carter mentions here:
Carter, 22, said none of his teammates knew he was going to try to pull the game.
“Now,” Carter said. “I knew they were pushing it, so I tried it.”
Carter’s teammates didn’t know he was going to try it, but they all saw him do it.
“Oh yeah,” Josh Sweat said through laughter. “I was like, ‘Brother, what are you doing?’ Bro, I never … if he likes it … does it count? does it count? is it right? what am I doing?’ He dove through the center’s legs.
On Monday night, Carter had a relatively quiet game with three combined tackles on the stat sheet. But he got some good pressure throughout the night and has 4 sacks and 5 tackles for loss this season.
The Eagles’ no. 9 overall pick is having a tremendous freshman season, and if he can pull off that play, the legend will have continued to grow. In case you were wondering, Carter didn’t interrupt his college career at Georgia.
But he came so close to capturing one on Monday night with a play that could find its way around the NFL.
“Yeah, I saw that,” Hassan Reddick said. “Rookie, young, full of energy, go out and be crazy. That is madness. It was almost as if he had it. It’s a wild thing. He’s been great all year. Coming this year, the interior is a big help. We look for him to continue his upward trajectory as we continue to progress this season.
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