In two NFL games, Isaac TeSlaa has two targets and two candidates for Catch of the Year. A week after snaring a one-handed touchdown a la Odell Beckham Jr., TeSlaa made another sensational one-handed snag to set up the Lions' fourth touchdown in their 52-21 rout of the Bears. Turns out he's got a knack for this.
One-handed catches, TeSlaa said last Thursday, have "kind of been my thing. I had quite a few at Hillsdale. But obviously those weren't getting out to SportsCenter."
These are. Asked if he ever envisioned his first two NFL catches looking like this, the 23-year-old from west Michigan smiled and said, "Maybe when I was a little kid just dreaming about it, up at night, can’t sleep, just thinking about catching the ball with one hand in Ford Field — it’s pretty special."
No one in the NFL has stickier hands than Amon-Ra St. Brown. In practice last Friday, the All-Pro receiver told the rookie, "Isaac, if you catch one more one-handed for a touchdown, I’m buying you a car." With time ticking down in the first half on Sunday, Jared Goff lobbed a go ball for TeSlaa down the sideline and TeSlaa, 6'4, reached up his right hand, snatched it in full stride and came down just four yards shy of the end zone.
It didn't hit St. Brown in the moment, but later, "I’m like, 'Oh sh*t, if he would have scored on that catch, I would have had to buy him a car,'" he said. "But he didn’t score -- so we’re good."
TeSlaa, overhearing the story from the neighboring locker, chimed in, "I let you score!" Indeed, Goff hit St. Brown in the end zone on the very next play with two seconds remaining in the first half to give the Lions a 28-14 lead at the break.
For the record, TeSlaa didn't exactly miss out on a Tesla. If St. Brown had to hold up his end of the deal, he laughed and said, "Bro, I told him, I’m getting him a bucket, like a cheap bucket. That would’ve been crazy."
TeSlaa saw the first replay of his catch walking up the tunnel after the game. He said the Lions had been repping the play all week, and noted that contrary to what others might have said, he ran the ball right back to the official before the clock ran out at the end of the half. (Well, after a brief first-down gesture.) Then he smiled and said, "One hand's all we need, baby."
"That’s two opportunities," said Dan Campbell, "and he’s made two plays. So he’s going to get more opportunities."
TeSlaa's goal in his first season with the Lions is to build credibility with the quarterback and the coaches, namely the play-caller. He knows it's the only way he'll sniff the ball in an offense with tons of established weapons. He's off to quite the start. As Goff said Sunday, "It really gains a lot of trust being able to put the ball kind of anywhere near him and see him come down with it."
"And that was part of why he was drafted here, is to be that type of player, and he’s shown up, man. He really has. He gets better every week, and I’m sure his route tree is really going to grow. We’ve hit the two go balls with him, but allowing him to run some different things as well and get the ball in his hands, and see what he can do after the catch, all that stuff is coming for him. But he’s certainly a deep threat, and those 50-50 balls are dangerous when he’s out there," said Goff.
Two targets, two catches, two highlights. The only thing TeSlaa would change is the loss the Lions took in Week 1. He said he'd happily give back his first catch for a win. The Lions got back on track in Week 2, as TeSlaa shifts his focus to Week 3. While he allows that his latest grab was another wow moment, "football is a game of flushing it," he said.
"Yes, it did happen, yes, it was cool," he said, "but on to the next one."