Ishmael’s interception lifts Falcons
Falcons safety Kemal Ishmael already did the hard part when he intercepted Blake Bortles’ pass at the goal line near the end of the first half. Now all Ishmael to do was wait for teammate Justin Durant to finish off Bortles with a block and then Ishmael could run into the end zone for the touchdown.
Instead, Bortles shed Durant’s block attempt and tripped up Ishmael near the 20-yard line. That’s a quarterback beating a block by a linebacker to make a touchdown-saving tackle.
Naturally, Ishmael let Durant hear about it.
“I just told him, ‘Man I thought you were going to knock him out,’” Ishmael said. “But Blake is a big boy and he’s built like Ben Roethlisberger.”
Ishmael didn’t score but his 84-yard interception provided the Falcons a 10-point swing during their 23-17 victory over the Jaguars. Ishmael erased a high-percentage touchdown chance for the Jags, who had a first-and-goal at the one-yard line, and set up Shayne Graham’s 34-yard field goal that gave the Falcons a 17-3 halftime lead.
Ishmael said he anticipated the play because of the formation used by Jacksonville. He left his man, Allen Hurns, to step in front of a pass intended for Marcedes Lewis.
“He made a good play on it,” Bortles said. “I was late to Marcedes but (Ishmael) was actually the guy who should have stayed inside and covered Hurns.”
Once Ishmael caught the pass, the race was on to the end zone. Bortles is a good athlete for his size (6-5, 245), and Stupar appeared winded after running most of the length of the field. More than that, Ishmael said Bortles had some extra motivation.
Ishmael and Bortles were teammates at Central Florida until 2013, when the Falcons selected Ishmael in the seventh round of the draft. The Jaguars selected Bortles No. 3 overall in the 2014 draft.
“Most quarterbacks give up and let that one go but Blake, that was a personal thing,” Ishmael said. “He was mad. I laughed and said, ‘Blake, thanks for that one man.’ I owe him one.”
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