Head coach Tom Masella was a defensive back at Wagner (and in the school\u2019s hall of fame) and served as defensive coordinator at a number of stops prior to rejoining his alma mater as head coach, including stops at UConn, Louisiana Tech, and UMass. With no defensive coordinator on staff, I assume Masella has a hand in coaching the defense.<\/p>\n Wagner was generally a 3-4 defense in 2025, but did show multiple sets with e.g. 4-man fronts (e.g. running the 4-2-5), as Wagner has a lot of defensive backs. This season, the appear to run a 4-2-5 much more often.<\/p>\n This is a team that likes to utilize hybrid positions and players (DE\/OLB, DB\/LB, etc), perhaps because a lot of these players fall into \u201ctweener\u201d roles. <\/p>\n I created a rough depth chart for 2025 from watching the games (please note that many players lined up at multiple positions, this evolved over the course of the season and was where it ended up):<\/p>\n As you can probably see from all the red, Wagner lost almost their entire starting lineup, and so they\u2019ll be looking to younger players to fill those gaps.<\/p>\n Although Wagner\u2019s pass defense was often serviceable, the run defense struggled at times. This is likely a result of the Wagner defense\u2019s tackling issues:<\/p>\n Although Wagner\u2019s defense wasn\u2019t particularly strong on a play-by-play basis, they made their biggest impact in forcing turnovers\u2014they lead their conference in fumbles forced and were second in the conference in interceptions. <\/p>\n However, there is one thing I have to point out after seeing a few of Wagner\u2019s FBS matchups now. While they typically like to bring a lot of pressure on defense (aggressive front seven, DB blitzes, etc), they don\u2019t generally do this against FBS squads (where they ran a lot more rush-3\/drop-8 type coverages). It\u2019s like they concede that they\u2019re likely to lose individual matchups rushing the passer, and they\u2019d instead prefer to drop more players into coverage (and playing significantly off the line) to try and avoid getting beat deep or with speed; generally trying to keep the play in front of them and avoid giving up huge plays. \u201cBend and not break\u201d and all that. So take all of this with a grain of salt. <\/p>\n The defensive line will likely be a relative strength for Wagner this season. Wagner lost a lot of last year\u2019s defensive standouts to graduation, but their most impactful defender is returning: defensive end Ethan Appolon. Appolon found more playing time later in the season and ended the year strong, leading the team in sacks (5.0) and forced fumbles (4):<\/p>\n Here Appolon stays engaged with his blocker until the QB tries to break outside:<\/p>\n Here Appolon is too quick for the puller:<\/p>\n It is pretty impressive that almost every time Appolon got a sack, he also forced a fumble. Something about the way he\u2019s chopping the hand of the quarterback; he just doesn\u2019t miss.<\/p>\n Even when he didn\u2019t get to the quarterback, he still had a way of making his presence felt:<\/p>\n Here Appolon just gets a hand on the QB and it\u2019s enough to take him down:<\/p>\n Appolon also led the team in QB hurries, and came up big in clutch moments:<\/p>\n While Appolon showed a lot of speed on his pass rushes, the defensive end on the other side, Olanrewaju (or \u201cLanry\u201d) Adeyemi showed a bit more power on his pass rush:<\/p>\n Although Adeyemi was also able to win with speed to the outside:<\/p>\n Here Adeyemi manages to get a hand on the running back for the strip:<\/p>\n There aren\u2019t a ton of defensive highlights from the FBS matchups, but Adeyemi managed to beat the tackle here for a QB hurry:<\/p>\n This play won\u2019t show up on the stat sheet, but Adeyemi disrupts this pass at the line which results in an interception for Wagner:<\/p>\n On the interior of the defensive line is the 6\u20190\u201d 300 lbs. true sophomore defensive tackle Kahmari Valentine, who I expect will have a much bigger role this season. Here he blasts into the backfield as the left guard pulls to meet the handoff:<\/p>\n Here Valentine shoots the A gap (between the center and right guard), knocks the RG back on his heels, and again finds himself in the backfield for a TFL against Central Michigan:<\/p>\n The big guy also showed he can throw a spin move or two in there as well:<\/p>\n This year, Kahmari Valentine is playing more of a nose tackle role, but he\u2019s still effective in rushing the quarterback:<\/p>\n The other defensive tackle is the 6\u20191\u201d 280 lbs DT Logan Barnes. In the following play, Valentine is again attacking the A gap (OC\/RG) while Barnes is at the D gap (around the TE, offense\u2019s right side, defense\u2019s left) and they both get through to combine for the TFL:<\/p>\n The following play shows 4-down linemen, with DT Logan Barnes on the left side (next to #6 LDE Olanrewaju Adeyemi). You can see just how fast Barnes gets off the snap and beats the opposing offensive lineman with good leverage:<\/p>\n Barnes definitely has a bit more quickness than you\u2019d expect at a nose tackle position:<\/p>\n Another player getting snaps this season at the nose tackle position is Jordan Gaston, and he has been effective plugging the run gaps upfront:<\/p>\n And here is with a nice play against JMU last week:<\/p>\n With Wagner\u2019s defensive line departures, DE Abdoul Idriss should find himself a bit higher on the depth chart this season (worth mentioning is that Wagner lists him on the roster as a linebacker). Idriss is quick:<\/p>\n Again just a pure speed rush:<\/p>\n Also seeing some limited action was DT Nathan Moorehead, who had this nice play:<\/p>\n Although I think the defensive line will be a strength of this team (particularly for their ability to force turnovers), it\u2019s hard to say how much of an impact they will have here against P4 competition. Against a mediocre Kansas squad (12th of 16 in the Big 12, 5-7 overall), Wagner managed 0 sacks and 0 TFLs. <\/p>\n Linebacker Jordan Johnson was the heart of this defense last year, but he grad transferred to FBS North Texas (Wagner\u2019s only FCS to FBS transfer). Wagner will need some of their younger players to step up and fill the void he leaves behind. Relatedly, Armani Itote (Chicago St) and Daren Omoregie (CCSU) have transferred out, both of whom were rotational starters last season.<\/p>\n To me, the most likely candidate to fill that void is LB Cam Haynes at inside linebacker. Haynes stood out to me for his ability to beeline towards the football:<\/p>\n Haynes showed the ability to lay the lumber on hits:<\/p>\n Although Haynes can also be over-aggressive at times:<\/p>\n Another player that stood out in limited playing time was LB Brendan Leal. Here he is finding his way to the football and forcing a fumble:<\/p>\n And here he finds his way into the backfield for a TFL:<\/p>\n Here Leal shows some nice speed in not letting the quarterback escape:<\/p>\n Although Wagner likes to play a lot of defensive backs, the players officially listed as linebackers were generally underwhelming in pass coverage, like this play by LB Armani Itote:<\/p>\n And again:<\/p>\n Another player that can fly to the football is outside linebacker Eli Hiscock (he\u2019s been listed as both a DE\/LB by Wagner, but I can\u2019t recall seeing him lining up as a down lineman\/defensive end):<\/p>\n This next guy was the bane of my existence as a non-Wagner fan trying to figure things out. I was watching Wagner games with their official 2025 roster<\/a> pulled up to the side. It makes no mention of the fact that the linebacker Acear Cornish changed his number three times during the season (#3 to #10 to #5). With no names on the backs of jerseys, I only figured out later that a DB and LB sharing the same number were actually different people (compared to another case in which the same player played both DB and LB, Daren Omoregie). The only guy(s) harder to figure out were Wagner\u2019s backup QBs, both of whom shared the number 12 at one time. I had to look up the players\u2019 Instagram accounts and photos to figure out I was looking at a different QB with the same number. I don\u2019t know what Wagner\u2019s jersey switching policy is, but I hate it. Anyway, Cornish had a lot of play time earlier in the season last year:<\/p>\n Worth noting that Cornish has cycled back to #3 again this year, at least at the time of this writing:<\/p>\n I\u2019d expect some aggressive run-crashing linebackers who may struggle to keep up in coverage situations.<\/p>\n Wagner has also seen some significant turnover at the defensive back position as well. They lost defensive team captain (and last year\u2019s tackling leader) CB Sam Martin, as well as CB Jayden Brown (last year\u2019s interception leader), who I would probably regard as the star of last year\u2019s secondary. Stepping into more prominent roles this season are sophomore CB Dashawn Long (not listed on the roster last year and starting corner this year), junior CB Julio Tatis (who played limited snaps in 4 games last year, and redshirt freshman and Lafayette transfer S Wes Johnston, all of whom have worked their ways into the starting lineup. Sophomores CBs Evan Dukes and Austin Bailey will join them in the 2-deep after seeing limited snaps last year as well.<\/p>\n Wagner likes their defensive backs, and we will likely see a lot of them. One of the most talented players I saw for Wagner was the corner, Shamar Williams\u2014although this season he is now the starting safety. This move makes a lot of sense, as Williams had a knack for putting himself in the right place at the right time to come up with big plays: <\/p>\n Here Williams again puts himself in a better position than the receiver:<\/p>\n And here you can see how he\u2019s naturally transitioned into that deep safety role, still fielding overthrows out deep:<\/p>\n The next clip is probably unfair to use at this point, but it was one of my first clips from the first game of the season (Shamar Williams improved a lot last season, and worked his way into the starting lineup by the end of it), not to mention that he\u2019s lining up against an NFL 6th round draft pick here:<\/p>\n Although I think tackling was a problem for some of the DBs, Williams did come up with this one where he literally ripped the ball away from the running back:<\/p>\n But here\u2019s some of that tackling I am talking about:<\/p>\n Wagner tried to minimize damage when they played against Kansas and gave opposing receivers a huge cushion (to prevent receivers getting behind them, beating them with speed, limit explosive plays, etc), but here wee see that Alim Parks Jr. misses anyway:<\/p>\n Also worth mentioning is the way that NEC refs would sometimes lose control of the game with their reluctance to throw flags, resulting in a number of massive brawls or near-brawls. Things like this:<\/p>\n (Parks appeared to have broken his ankle against JMU, so he will not play, and hopefully he recovers well.)<\/p>\n This was also a team prone to mistakes in coverage, where defenders seemed unclear on their assignments (which is surprising, given that the head coach was himself a former defensive back):<\/p>\n Some of their issues were schematic \u2014 I couldn\u2019t tell you who was at fault here:<\/p>\n Or again here, I can\u2019t imagine this was his assignment:<\/p>\n CB Julio Tatis was not on my radar at all last season, but he\u2019s made an immediate impact this year for Wagner and seems to be the new top corner. Tatis is a converted running back and on the Wagner Track & Field team, so he\u2019s probably one of the few defensive backs with the speed to match his FBS opponents:<\/p>\n Starting on the other side of the field is CB Deshawn Long, who plays a bit more physically even if he\u2019s not as tight in coverage:<\/p>\n Here Long misses a tackle as the receiver gets free for a huge touchdown:<\/p>\n S Wes Johnston has worked his way into the starting lineup after showing his effectiveness in run defense, and currently leads the team in tackles and is tied for third in TFLs (behind only defensive linemen):<\/p>\n Here is one of the backups that played in the second half last week:<\/p>\n The Wagner defensive backs will have the unenviable task of trying to shut down a future #1 overall quarterback, so\u2026 good luck.<\/p>\n Wagner was a fan of trick plays, and would bust them out quite frequently:<\/p>\n More generally, however, I\u2019d say that Wagner struggled on special teams (and keep in mind that I originally wrote this long before the JMU game). Wagner\u2019s only FBS transfer last season was their kicker, Nicholas Romero, who transferred to New Mexico. Poor kickoff and punt coverage often gave opponents short fields to work with (Wagner gave up a 99-yard kick return TD last season), the punter would shank a kick out of bounds, missed PATs on bad holds, and so on. With a new punter and placekicker (and freshman long snapper), it remains to be seen how they fair in the kicking game. <\/p>\n In fact, the freshman long snapper already off to a rocky start:<\/p>\n Special teams had an incredibly rough game last week at JMU, where 3 punts were returned for touchdowns, as well as giving up a 92-yard kickoff return and having this punt blocked:<\/p>\n Muffing the punts doesn\u2019t help either:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/2de8e00c-d634-4955-9685-18a18a2c5e81_1920.jpeg\")
<\/a>The Seahawk looks thrilled to be here.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/2d05a63a-1d77-4263-9fe3-464f1066d473_870x.png\")
<\/a>2025 Wagner Depth Chart. Red = departing player, blue = returning player.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/74c90bb4-0dd3-4667-9b1e-8947fc123167_870x.png\")
<\/a>2026 Wagner Depth Chart: defense and special teams<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/f5cb553b-666f-4577-bc00-4f5609dc46fa_640x.gif\")
<\/a>Wagner defense struggling with their tackling and tackling form\t<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/e5bba080-265b-4a34-aec3-cc1830062246_640x.gif\")
<\/a>LDE Ethan Appolon (#95) beats the tackle to the outside for a strip sack on the QB<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/b61db184-0471-491d-a1d8-3deae36e0f72_640x.gif\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>RDE Ethan Appolon (#95) loops around and gets the sack and forced fumble<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/d183cc66-fae9-4021-9ace-bfafe451ca14_640x.gif\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>RDE Ethan Appolon gets the sack and forces a fumble<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/d0589e12-6fd0-4478-84c2-041db59106da_640x.gif\")
<\/a>LDE Ethan Appolon chops the QB\u2019s arm to force a fumble recovered by DB Daren Omoregie<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/592307a4-8e0a-453b-a348-e2543ab23e83_640x.gif\")
<\/a>RDE Ethan Appolon gets a hand on the QB for a sack<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/3fc91981-cf44-4a2e-8231-5e68b324cb6a_640x.gif\")
<\/a>LDE Ethan Appolon gets the pressure on the twist and CB Shamar Williams breaks up the 4th down pass to seal the game<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/267ae737-b260-44dd-881e-d6f667000926_640x.gif\")
<\/a>RDE Olanrewaju Adeyemi (#6) drives the OL back to get the sack<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/37e92269-ec73-4c36-829b-84cd9f221f63_640x.gif\")
<\/a>RDE Olanrewaju Adeyemi (#6) strips the QB on the sack (he knocks the ball loose as the QB winds up to throw) for the forced fumble and recovery<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/b496f2c7-7cf8-47c7-b324-c317490a2de6_640x.gif\")
<\/a>RDE Olanrewaju Adeyemi strips the RB on the tackle for the forced fumble<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/77c6025c-0293-442f-8f56-48e3370e3dbd_640x.gif\")
<\/a>DE Olanrewaju Adeyemi pressure forces an errant pass by QB Jalon Daniels<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/378a4031-7f3f-44c7-88b0-c2a92e0bf080_640x.gif\")
<\/a>DE Olanrewaju Adeyemi deflects the pass at the line leading to a Wagner INT<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/ec652b28-8442-464f-856d-67980c061aca_640x.gif\")
<\/a>DT Kahmari Valentine (#56, lined up third from the bottom of the screen) into the backfield to blow up this RPO play and results in a TFL<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/4db2cd3f-c8bd-4422-bab2-72958ff4aea7_640x.gif\")
<\/a>DT Kahmari Valentine shoots the gap and into the backfield for the TFL on the QB for a loss of 5 yards<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/68572da3-11ff-4f10-8806-0f974f4e89b0_640x.gif\")
<\/a>DT Kahmari Valentine spins off the block to get the sack<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/608ac2c1-8437-4876-ab4b-f963117c8b19_640x.gif\")
<\/a>NT Kahmari Valentine swims past the center for the sack<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/3d21157b-7958-4804-ae87-ed6e82528087_640x.gif\")
<\/a>DT Logan Barnes (#3) and DT Kahmari Valentine (#56) get through for the TFL on the RB<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/e925cc86-0f5c-4e5c-9bea-5e24fbcb226c_640x.gif\")
<\/a>LDT Logan Barnes pressure affects the throw for a critical late INT<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/ff027197-5ed5-4695-97c4-430d5c004605_640x.gif\")
<\/a>NT Logan Barnes (#3) splits the two OL to get pressure on the QB<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/fba53596-18a3-4dd9-92c8-49195065f839_640x.gif\")
<\/a>NT Jordan Gaston into the backfield for a tackle on the RB<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/83571a05-c09d-4a15-be86-3792b05b0811_640x.gif\")
<\/a>NT Jordan Gaston into the backfield for a sack on QB Camden Coleman<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/e94c9c84-8d6f-4b84-aabb-8e17fb7ccdb7_640x.gif\")
<\/a>RDE Abdoul Idriss (#23) chases down the QB and bats down the pass<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/7e9fefe2-d45d-47af-8187-1b33a9ce8e1c_640x.gif\")
<\/a>RDE Abdoul Idriss off the edge for the QB hurry<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/9e786e6e-7364-4b86-911d-286cbb631849_640x.gif\")
<\/a>DT Nathan Moorehead (#90) splits the double team to get pressure and force an errant throw for an INT<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/bf816d4a-fc8d-472b-9c21-7940c6c9d114_640x.gif\")
<\/a>LB Cam Haynes (#26) pressure forces an errant throw by QB Cole Ballard<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/5930bcb6-8b85-46c7-b0c8-07d3f6058644_640x.gif\")
<\/a>LB Cam Haynes with a brutal hit on the kickoff returner – clearly a forced fumble but ruled down by contact<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/72e6c310-c6b9-4751-9f2c-107f9846f58d_640x.gif\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>LB Cam Haynes (#26) and S Alim Parks Jr (#29) sell out on the read-option and the QB Angel Flores walks it in for the 3 yard TD<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/e0727145-3590-4a27-af8c-e8cabd55b8b8_640x.gif\")
<\/a>LB Brendan Leal (#44) forces a fumble on RB Kadenn Rose on the tackle<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/9383323b-94cb-45a6-9f28-e475f93a99db_640x.gif\")
<\/a>LB Brendan Leal gets through for a TFL on the RB<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/05ebbe82-0066-4782-88b3-95659bc2d918_640x.gif\")
<\/a>LB Brendan Leal tracks down the QB for the sack<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/34831e10-39c0-400b-8044-59c86ebe65b1_640x.gif\")
<\/a>LB Armani Itote (#0) can\u2019t keep up with the RB on the route out of the backfield for a 76 yard TD<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/28a236f7-65d1-49d6-a8d7-cfe711bf4e2a_640x.gif\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>LB Armani Itote struggles on the coverage of TE Boden Groen for a 27 yard catch<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/2a269173-7e8e-4d77-96f5-bc59263867f7_640x.gif\")
<\/a>OLB Eli Hiscock (#14) forces a fumble on the tackle of RB Kadenn Rose and recovered by CB Austin Bailey for the 75 yard return TD<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/02608326-dc1f-4e48-b2b7-1171f936fdfd_640x.gif\")
<\/a>LB Acear Cornish (#3) with a nice tackle on RB Harry Stewart III<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/8d104bc9-837c-4995-98e7-50a67e612cc3_640x.gif\")
<\/a>LB Acear Cornish (#3) tracks down the QB for a sack<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/7283fb22-8746-42d1-9e6c-a57f0234ff1f_640x.gif\")
<\/a>CB Shamar Williams (#12) comes up with the INT – hard to see how this happened though<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/2f1f15b9-88fa-4062-b093-ab75f51e223b_640x.gif\")
<\/a>CB Shamar Williams tracks down the overthrow for the INT<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/face0220-d618-4769-82c4-21deaf9fe913_640x.gif\")
<\/a>S Shamar Williams tracks down the INT on the overthrown ball<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/a2348b22-22b0-4e5c-9c4f-a37272d382d9_640x.gif\")
<\/a>CB Shamar Williams (#12) gets beat on the coverage for a TD by WR Emmanuel Henderson Jr<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/2c614a31-3fd5-48c9-a898-8f1cee4230b7_640x.gif\")
<\/a>CB Shamar Williams pickpockets the RB for a forced fumble and returned 62 yards for the TD<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/1210597e-9e14-4bf9-a811-62e82f007646_640x.gif\")
<\/a>CB Shamar Williams with a costly missed tackle (along with the rest of the DBs)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/81fbdb20-80a6-4063-a135-ae24020e040f_640x.gif\")
<\/a>CB\/S Alim Parks Jr. (#29) gives a huge cushion for WR Emmanuel Henderson Jr but misses on the tackle<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/3eabb016-dc0d-4ffb-9ee4-42b2f06509f3_640x.gif\")
<\/a>S Alim Parks Jr. (#29) somehow not flagged for this<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/760dc11a-fdea-4f79-b789-f94d0b4b6bdb_640x.gif\")
<\/a>CB Evan Dukes (#22) – confusion in the secondary at the bottom of the screen, but QB Jalon Daniels doesn\u2019t see the open receiver<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/6b6a0b1b-f582-41fb-90a2-eb43dc93e21c_640x.gif\")
<\/a>DB Freddie Camp (#5) can\u2019t recover during the busted coverage in the secondary<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/39a1209f-f22d-45e6-9b11-b6c4a68df0d2_640x.gif\")
<\/a>S Freddie Camp (#15) out of position on this 77 yard TD run<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/5e90a82c-7c6d-4f2c-8732-03bfb8986dfc_640x.gif\")
<\/a>CB Julio Tatis jumps the route for the INT and 40 yard pick-6 – QB should never have thrown this<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/0efdc57c-d21f-4efa-a83a-47332a046b02_640x.gif\")
<\/a>CB Dashawn Long rips the ball free for a forced fumble recovered by OLB Eli Hiscock<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/fa9137ce-2406-4423-bb39-dada7295b777_640x.gif\")
<\/a>CB Dashawn Long gets beat and gets no safety help for this 64 yard TD<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/824165e7-1aa8-47e9-b3c7-9982b8fe7cee_640x.gif\")
<\/a>S Wes Johnston comes up to make the play on the RB for a TFL<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/c5ca8eb2-ca49-475e-b01b-90fd3982ecb7_640x.gif\")
<\/a>CB Jaiden Brooks gets cooked on the 18 yard TD pass<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/2046b740-71c4-4db3-b157-54331c154da9_640x.gif\")
<\/a>DT Logan Barnes on the fake punt for a 13 yard run and first down – negated by a penalty<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/5994f5a0-4bd4-44c3-a10a-4feb0ca16fbd_640x.gif\")
<\/a>LS Mike Bellamy snap is too high for P Vincent Muscilo and the kick is blocked for a punt return TD<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/e5717f4b-471c-4f86-b332-e33b6664c95f_640x.gif\")
<\/a>Wagner punt is blocked for a TD – Wagner would give up 3 punt return TDs this game<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/2c9f14ce-9658-4402-b787-ad60b341a388_640x.gif\")
<\/a>WR Zion Fowler-El muffs the punt for a turnover<\/p>\n