GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Everyone loves a big-guy touchdown, maybe no one more than Jonah Williams.
Arizona's offensive tackle was in the right place at the right time Sunday, scoring his first touchdown since the sixth grade in the Cardinals' 30-17 win over the New England Patriots.
“That's what I tried to do — I planned it, I practiced it,” Williams deadpanned. “It's such a random play to get so much praise for.”
Williams earned it.
The Cardinals' starting right tackle was listed as questionable with an illness after what he called a tough night. Arizona's trainers helped him recover enough to play and the 6-foot-5, 312-pounder delivered one of the biggest plays of the game.
Leading 3-0 late in the first quarter, the Cardinals drove the ball to New England's 8. Arizona wide receiver Greg Dortch went around the left end on a handoff and was close to the goal line, but fumbled while being tackled.
Williams pulled from his right tackle spot on the play and clipped Patriots defensive lineman Daniel Ekuale as he went through a hole on the left side. Williams kept moving and scrambled to dive on the ball just before it rolled out of the end zone, preventing what would have been a disheartening touchback in a Cardinals season that had come close to derailing.
Williams initially hesitated on his celebration as the officials tried to determine if he saved the ball in time. He finally did after teammate Paris Johnson Jr. told him it was indeed a touchdown.
“I was like, what? How’s that work?” Williams said.
Hard to blame Williams for not knowing what it felt like — it had been a long time since his last touchdown.
The last one? With the Atlanta Colts at Murphey Candler Park in Georgia.
“I remember the hole opened up, it was 30-trap, the center climbed the linebacker and I just hid behind him,” Williams said with a wry smile. “I almost got hogged by a nose guard — it was really embarrassing. That's probably why it was my last chance to run the ball.”
Williams' running days have long been over, but his first career NFL touchdown was a nice reward for a player who has spent the last decade in the trenches.
Williams grew up in Georgia before moving to Northern California when he was in the ninth grade. Williams was a five-star recruit out of Folsom High School and played three years at Alabama, earning third-team All-America honors before declaring for the NFL.
Cincinnati used the 11th overall pick in the 2019 draft on Williams, but a shoulder injury spoiled what would have been his rookie season. He started 10 games in 2020 before suffering a knee injury, but became an anchor on the Bengals' line the next three seasons, starting 49 games.
Williams signed a two-year deal with the Cardinals during the offseason, only to suffer another knee injury that knocked him out nine games. He returned on Nov. 24 against Seattle and has started the last four games, pulling off a key play against the Patriots that keeps Arizona's slim playoff hopes alive.
“That was an excellent play by him, just maxing out effort,” Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said.
It's one Williams will undoubtedly remember, particularly after Arizona's equipment staff saved the ball, perhaps to put next to the one from his sixth grade touchdown.
“I kept that one forever,” Williams said. “That's my pride and joy.”
Williams may or may not have been joking about the ball from sixth grade. His first NFL touchdown will certainly get the full treatment on the mantle or wherever he decides to put it.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
John Marshall, The Associated Press
