DaRon Bland is back . . . in more than one way.
The Cowboys cornerback missed 10 games with a stress fracture in his left foot in 2024 and sat out two games earlier this season with a right foot injury. In his third game back from his most recent foot injury, Bland did what he did in 2023.
He intercepted Marcus Mariota and returned it 68 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter of the Cowboys’ 44-22 win over the Commanders.
“I was like, ‘Oh, I got it. We’ll get this one,’” Bland said, via Patrik Walker of the team website. “Even though the sun was beaming in my face a little bit, it was good. . . . I was more so just telling myself to not drop it because it was just me and the end zone.”
It was Bland’s sixth career pick-six, but his first since Week 12 of 2023 against Washington. That was one of five interception returns for touchdowns in his only All-Pro season.
Rod Woodson holds the NFL record with 12 pick-sixes.
Mariota joins Daniel Jones (22 yards), Mac Jones (54 yards), Matthew Stafford (30 yards), Bryce Young (30 yards) and Sam Howell (63 yards) as quarterbacks Bland has scored against.
“I was trying to make a play,” Mariota said. “You know, you come into the game and just with where [the score] was, I probably could have thrown it away at that point in time. I thought I saw J-Mac [Jeremy McNichols] open in the flat. I got hit as I threw and [the ball] didn’t get all the way over there, and the guy made a play on it. I think for me personally, when you come in the game at that point in time, that’s part of doing business. You’re trying to make a play and give a spark. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out the way that I wanted to.”
Cowboys defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, who has been under fire with one of the worst defenses in the league, listened to his players. They wanted more man coverage, and they got it against an offense with wide receivers Terry McLaurin, Deebo Samuel and Noah Brown.
During the first six weeks, the Cowboys were in zone coverage a league-high 82 percent of the time. On Sunday, they used man coverage 59 percent of the time, according to ESPN Analytics and NFL Next Gen Stats.
Bland’s interception return for a touchdown, though, came in zone coverage.
The Cowboys still rank 32nd in total defense, but they played their best game of the season Sunday in limiting the Commanders to 341 yards and 22 points.