Xavien Howard made it four consecutive games with an interception with his second quarter pick of Joe Flacco in Miami's 24-0 win over the New York Jets today. Last week, Howard was targeted four times without allowing a reception and matched it with four more targets without a catch allowed today against the Jets, per Pro Football Focus.
With four interceptions this season, Howard is tied for the league lead with Washington's Kendall Fuller, who also recorded his fourth interception of the year today.
"I had a feeling for what was coming," Howard said of the interception. "A lot of teams have been giving me a lot of overs (crossing routes), especially against Cover 1. It's hard when they run away from you but I worked to just undercut it to get to the ball."
Howard's 16 interceptions are the most in the NFL since December 2017. Entering play, Howard was intercepting a pass every 8.6 intended targets in his coverage area, per Pro Football Focus. Comparatively, Chicago's Kyle Fuller – who has the second most interceptions over that span with 15 -- secured an interception per 21.5 pass targets over that same span, also the second-best rate behind Howard.
Howard spearheaded a dominant defensive effort from the Dolphins. The Jets passing game produced only 148 net yards, an average of 3.4 yards per pass for Joe Flacco. Miami's third-down defense got stops on 15 of 17 third down attempts from the Jets and allowed only 3.8 yards per play.
