Archer: For Morris Claiborne, fourth quarter might have been best as Cowboy

Cotton

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For Morris Claiborne, fourth quarter might have been best as Cowboy
6:28 AM CT
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer

SANTA CLARA -- So many things have changed since Morris Claiborne's last interception on Sept. 21, 2014.

Most notably, the team he had it against doesn’t even play in the same state anymore after the St. Louis Rams moved to Los Angeles this year.

And, no, Claiborne, the Dallas Cowboys' cornerback, hadn’t forgotten what an interception felt like. He had played one more game in 2014, 11 more in 2015 and the first three of the 2016 season before he came down with a Blaine Gabbert pass in the fourth quarter Sunday.

"As the game was going on, I was praying to myself, 'God, it’s never too late. I’m still here. I still want one,'" Claiborne said. "I remember walking around telling the training staff that I’m going to get you one. I even told our linebackers coach, 'Hey, I’m going to get you one.' It just so happened that I came back over with one. I can’t even describe the feeling. I just want more."

When he came to the sideline he was swarmed by teammates and dropped to a knee.

"Where I’m at right now with my career, what I’m doing, without (God) I just don’t feel like none of it is possible," Claiborne said.

The fourth quarter might have been the best of Claiborne’s Cowboys’ career. In addition to the interception, he had a tackle for loss, stopping Gabbert on a quarterback keeper, and he salted the game away for the Cowboys with a tackle of Torrey Smith 3 yards short on a fourth-and-6 from the Dallas 35 with 1:49 to play.

"All game I wasn’t getting many plays," Claiborne said. "All of them came in the fourth quarter, and they all came together. So, you know, just in position. When all those plays happened, it’s just staying on top and staying honest to the defense."

Claiborne has gone from one of the worst draft picks of the Jerry Jones' era -- considering what the Cowboys gave up to get him with the sixth overall pick in the 2012 draft and the lack of production and injuries since -- to one of their shrewdest free-agent signings.

He chose to return to the Cowboys on a one-year, $3 million deal in hopes of finding the form that made him a top pick.

"Great illustration of what he’s all about, what this team’s all about, what we build each and every day. Mo’s overcome a lot throughout his career," coach Jason Garrett said. "He’s playing the best football of his career. I think you saw that in the early part of the season. You saw that throughout the game. Makes the big interception. Makes the big tackle. At the end of the ballgame he’s a tough guy. He’s a tough guy. He’s mentally tough. He’s physically tough. He did a damn good job."
 

Jiggyfly

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Claiborne just looks so much more confident with this play and the one last week on White he never panicked and was still in a position to make a play on the ball.

Any other year he would just have been chasing and or grabbing.

Not going to lie I am still expecting him to miss a couple of games.
 

dallen

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Now keep it up
 

Simpleton

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Going to have to think about the possibility of re-signing him in the not too distant future.
 

1bigfan13

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One of the most important things for a CB to have is confidence. It looks as if Claiborne is finally playing with a lot of REAL confidence.
 

Genghis Khan

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The talent was always there. Obviously confidence is always important, but a difference to me is he just seems hungry. You can see it in his tackling especially. I don't think we've seen that out of him before.
 

Cowboysrock55

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The talent was always there. Obviously confidence is always important, but a difference to me is he just seems hungry. You can see it in his tackling especially. I don't think we've seen that out of him before.
Yeah he was always sort of a sally when it came to tackling. This year he has been wonderful at it.
 

Texas Ace

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The talent was always there. Obviously confidence is always important, but a difference to me is he just seems hungry. You can see it in his tackling especially. I don't think we've seen that out of him before.
That's a very big key, and that's a good observation.

How a CB approaches tackling tells you a lot about their mindset and how aggressive they are, and with that comes a certain level of confidence too.

The guy actually looks like he wants to tackle right now and that is a sign of a guy who is sure of what he's doing.

It's that mentality that makes a guy like Richard Sherman so good.
 

Cotton

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Yeah he was always sort of a sally when it came to tackling. This year he has been wonderful at it.
Switch flipped or contract extension? Hard to argue against the latter with what we've seen from him in his career.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Switch flipped or contract extension? Hard to argue against the latter with what we've seen from him in his career.
I kind of think it's a combination of a switch being flipped and him finally just being healthy. People forget that last year he was coming back from a very serious injury that usually take a season to get back to full health. In previous seasons he was always struggling with injuries. It's hard to be confident when tackling if your body doesn't feel well.

I don't really think it has anything to do with it being a contract year. Otherwise he would have done this last year.
 

Genghis Khan

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Switch flipped or contract extension? Hard to argue against the latter with what we've seen from him in his career.
He was in a contract year last year too and yet didn't perform to this level.

I wonder if the indignity of having to accept a one year deal lit a fire under him or if spending the entire off-season healthy has made that big of a difference.
 
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