
Brian Branch's lease was up, and he needed somewhere to stay last summer as he rehabbed in Detroit. As luck would have it, Kerby Joseph was sticking around for the same reason. They were already neighbors in the Lions' locker room -- might as well become roommates.
"He was looking for an apartment and I was like, 'Man, come stay with me, bruh,'" Joseph said.
Now they're partners in crime on the field. Joseph and Branch have stolen more footballs from quarterbacks this year than any trio of teammates in the NFL. They both rank in the top three in picks. They are the top two safeties in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. They are in lockstep in the Lions' defense, as they lock down pass-catchers.
Asked recently about their ability to play so fluidly as a tandem, Branch said, "I feel like we established that connection last season, and especially over the summer. They don’t know, but J-Kerb allowed me stay at his spot, because I was trying to save a little money."
(Branch's $2.8 million signing bonus, by the way, was more than triple that of Joseph, who laughed and said, "I always be telling BB, man, 'You went second-round, bro! He just manages his money really well. There’s nothing wrong with it.")
Branch moved in with Joseph in June and stayed into August. They hit the Lions' facility together for daily treatment -- Joseph after hip surgery, Branch after toe surgery -- and kicked it at Joseph's place out by the airport. Joseph said it was like "having a roommate back in college." Branch smiled and said that Joseph "definitely takes care of his guests."
When they were at the house, they chilled and played video games. They also literally found their flow: "BB can rap a little bit," said Joseph. Branch said the same for Joseph: "I think that’s his next talent if football didn’t work out." Joseph likes to call himself Kodak, the rapper from his home state of Florida. Branch grinned and said, "Great Value Kodak."
"I'm at least CVS Kodak!" Joseph cried.
Joseph and Branch often hit the dog park together, Joseph with his Pit Terrier named Blue, Branch with his Rottweiler named Bruno. Like their owners, the dogs were fast friends. Without the pups, the duo went to Top Golf, hit the range, "normal boy stuff," said Branch. Joseph's chef did most of the cooking. Lamb chops, baked beans and mac and cheese were staples on the menu.
"Just bonded," said Branch. "Shoot, we got closer during that time."
"Spending more time with him," said Joseph, "I understand how he thinks and he understands how I think and how we go hand in hand."
It continues to show up on Sundays. In Branch's first season as a starting safety after playing mostly nickel last season, he and Joseph are all over the field. They have the green light to go make plays in Aaron Glenn's defense, where "the corners and nickels play man, and we're just roaming free," said Branch. The 23-year-old has looked like a natural at his new position.
"I’m not saying he wasn’t making plays at nickel," said Joseph, "but you move from the line of scrimmage and put him back there where he can see a lot, it allows you to be more visual to the quarterback, because the quarterback’s going to tell you where the ball goes. And me and BB, we’re both ball guys. We go where the ball is. I feel like him keeping his eyes on the quarterback a lot more has allowed him to make more plays."
"At safety," said Branch, "there’s just more stuff I can do."
Joseph and Branch are playing in concert by thinking in concert. At times, it looks telepathic. To explain, Branch brings up Trevor Nowaske's interception against the Titans. The play was designed for Mason Rudolph to hit one of two receivers running routes downfield, either Calvin Ridley on a crosser or Nick Westbrook-Ikhine on a go, but Branch picked up the latter and Joseph the former at the top of their routes and then "passed it off perfectly," said Branch, without exchanging so much as a glance. With nowhere to go with the ball, Rudolph panicked under pressure and all but threw it into Nowaske's hands.
Such plays are becoming common for Joseph and Branch, almost second nature. In Week 6 versus the Cowboys, with Dallas facing third down just outside the end zone, the Lions played man coverage with a nickel blitz. That left Joseph in a difficult spot over the middle, with CeeDee Lamb running a corner route out of the slot. Joseph signaled to Branch just before the snap. Branch then faked like he was covering the flat, baited Dak Prescott into the throw to Lamb, fell off at the last second and snagged what he said is his favorite pick of his young career.
"Just knowing that it was a hard job for Kerb, because he gotta disguise (the coverage) from showing post and he had to get all the way over to the corner. That's impossible, so just having his back on that," said Branch.
"It’s something we talked about and he just ran with it," said Joseph. "He just played ball. Like I said, eyes on the quarterback, he sees a play, he’s gonna go make a play."
In Week 7 versus the Vikings, Joseph had a premonition midway through the second quarter. With Minnesota on the move, "Something just came over me, like, 'Man, I feel like they watchin' me right now!'" he laughed. "So I'm like, I wanna give them a different look." Again just prior to the snap, he shouted to Branch to "switch it up real quick" and disguise a cover-two zone as single-high man. Based on film study, they figured Sam Darnold would see that and try to hit a certain throw to Jordan Addison. He did, and Branch swooped in as the deep safety for a soaring interception.
"He thought I was playing the post, I went to my half and the crossing route came to me and I just jumped it," said Branch.
"That’s how it is," said Joseph. "It’s nothing like, really technical about it. I just feel like me and him, one thing about what we do, we just trust our instincts and let our instincts tell us what to do."
"Those guys did a really good job of forcing that play to happen," Glenn said the next week.
Joseph and Branch combined with Terrion Arnold on another crucial play later in that game. With the Vikings going for two after taking a one-point lead in the fourth quarter, Arnold passed off Addison to Branch and picked up Jalen Nailor who was in motion before the snap, and Branch closed on Addison with an expert break-up at the goal line. It proved to be the difference in the Lions' two-point win.
"For all three of those guys to have the mentality and the understanding of what we’re trying to create and to be able to pass things off, it does show the growth of those players," said Glenn. "And here’s the scary part about it, man, they still have a long way to go."
After Branch pulled into a tie with Joseph in picks this season, Joseph smiled and said, "Man, I’m inevitable. I’ma get mine, man. It wasn’t no race, but he caught up to me, but it’s OK, I’ma keep going." He pulled back ahead that Sunday against the Titans when Branch peeled off the tight end on a seam route knowing that Joseph was lurking deep, allowing Joseph to jump it as soon as the ball left Rudolph's hands.
And last week against the Packers, Joseph made it six on the season with the first pick-six of his career after blitzing Jordan Love on an assignment that would have belonged to Branch prior to his ejection from the game.
"Oh, I’m comin'," Branch said this week. "I told him I’ma get him back. Before each week, we go over what we want to do that game and shoot, it was his game to make a pick and I salute him. ... It’s a goal (for us), to get a pick each week."
Jared Goff has seen a lot of good safety tandems over his nine seasons in the NFL. He hasn't seen one quite like Joseph and Branch: "Kerby’s range and his ability to find the ball is special. And then Branch has gotta be one of the best man-cover safeties in the league, he's as sticky as they come, great tackler, obviously has great ball skills as well. They’re a great pair, and we’re lucky to have 'em."
"I just feel like we play off each other," said Branch. "I can always count on him, if I get beat, to be over the top. Or if he misses a run gap, I’m able to help him out. Shoot, him going to get the ball and me being able to play in the box, that’s what you want in two safeties."
According the PFF, the NFL's four best safeties this season play in the NFC North. Joseph and Branch are Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, followed by Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams of the Packers. Asked about the top tandems in the game, Joseph pointed to the duo from Green Bay as well as Jesse Bates III and Justin Simmons of the Falcons. But right now, no one measures up to the duo in Detroit.
"Me and him vs. everybody," said Joseph.
Their status around the league, said Branch, "means a lot. It shows how much hard work we put in. But we know that this is only the beginning. We’re gonna keep on going to prove, not to everybody, but to ourselves that we are who we say we are."
Branch turned 23 in October. Joseph turns 24 next week. They are thick as thieves off the field, sticky-fingered on it. Their chemistry permeates the DB's room, which gets together at Joseph's house every week for Thursday Night Football. (Kerb's chef be cookin'," said Branch.) Joseph stood behind Branch after his ejection for flipping the double bird to the fans at Lambeau last week by first housing a pick, then having T-shirts designed with the now-infamous image of Branch's salute screen-printed across the chest. He was hawking them in the locker room Friday like concessions at Ford Field.
The Lions allowed the third highest passer rating (101.0) in the NFL in Glenn's first season running the defense. They lowered it the next year when Joseph arrived, and again the following year with the addition of Branch. This year, it's the second lowest (76.2) in the NFL. Every team wants ballhawks in the secondary. The Lions have something better in a Pit and a Rottweiler.
"It’s not too complicated," said Joseph. "It’s not too technical. That’s what I like about him, man. We just play football."