Cowboys, Mavs, Rangers, Stars: Where does Diggs’ interception streak rank? | Opinion

Trevon Diggs is catching everything these days, and assembling a streak so rare it calls to mind some of the more specials runs ever in sports.

Because intercepting passes in six straight NFL games, as Diggs has done to start this season, happens more infrequently than an Olympics.

Diggs’ latest gem came on Sunday evening, in the Cowboys’ 35-29 overtime win against the New England Patriots. Not only was it an interception of Patriots quarterback — and former Alabama teammate — Mac Jones, but it was of the pick-six variety. The 42-yard return for a touchdown came with a little more than two minutes in the game.

The play had all the makings of a knockout blow, but on the very next play, Diggs helped surrender a 75-yard touchdown catch to Patriots receiver Kendrick Bourne.

A two-point conversion made the score 29-26 and a late Greg Zuerlein field goal forced overtime where a 35-yard Dak Prescott touchdown pass to CeeDee Lamb ended the game, but back to Diggs’ run.

The second-year cornerback now has an interception in every game this season, seven overall. (And both pick-sixes this season came against former Alabama quarterbacks — the other being Jalen Hurts in the Cowboys’ home-opening win versus the Philadelphia Eagles.)

Diggs is the first player in the Super Bowl era to have at least seven interceptions with more than one pick-six in the first six games of a season.

So where does Diggs’ run of interceptions rank among some of the best streaks we have seen in this town?

Among the Cowboys, Dallas Mavericks, Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars, the following is a compilation of the most impressive, and memorable, streaks we’ve ever seen in these parts.

DALLAS COWBOYS

DeMarco Murray’s eight-game streak of 100 yards rushing

A franchise with Pro Football Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett and the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, Emmitt Smith, it’s Murray who has this record. Murray did this from Week 1 to Week 8 to start the 2014 NFL season, the year he ran for 1,845 yards.

Michael Irvin’s seven-game streak of 100 yards receiving

In the Cowboys’ last Super Bowl season, The Playmaker had one of the best years in the history of the franchise. Every game from Week 3 to Week 9, Irvin went over 100 yards. The streak nearly was nine games; he had more than 100 yards in Week 1, and 94 in Week 2.

DeMarcus Ware’s 10-game sack streak

The streak started at the end of the 2007 season and continued into 2008. And it could even be an 11-game streak if you were to include their playoff game that season. Ware finished the 2007 season with a sack in the final three games, and then added one in the playoff loss to the New York Giants. He opened the 2008 season with sacks in the first seven games and finished with 20 that year.

DALLAS MAVERICKS

Dirk Nowitzki’s free throws made

Dirk made 82 consecutive free throws over two seasons. He made his last 74 free throws in the 2009-10 season, and first eight the following season. It is the third-longest streak in NBA history.

And in Game 1 of the 2011 Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Dirk was 24-for-24 from the foul line. It’s the most free throws made without a miss in NBA playoff history, and it is tied for the regular-season mark. (James Harden matched the feat against the San Antonio Spurs in 2019.)

Luka Doncic’s streak of 40-10 games

This is a weird one. In Doncic’s first seven 40-point games, he had at least 10 assists, too. It was the longest such streak in the NBA. The previous record was four set by the Denver Nuggets Michael Adams in 1991.

TEXAS RANGERS

Dale Mohoric’s 13 consecutive game pitched

Right-hander Dale Mohoric appeared in 13 consecutive games, from Aug. 6-20, 1986. It remains an American League record, and it ties the MLB record with Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mike Marshall.

Kevin Mench’s seven straight game with a home run

The Rangers have had some of baseball’s better power hitters — Juan Gonzalez, Ruben Sierra, Alex Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro, Ivan Rodriguez, etc. — but it’s Mench who holds this record. In April of 2006, Mench hit a home run in seven consecutive games. He’s one of eight players in MLB history with a home run streak of seven games or more. The record is eight, set by Don Mattingly, Dale Long and Ken Griffey Jr.

Shin-Soo Choo reaches base in 52 straight games

When he was healthy, Choo was an on-base machine. This streak of getting on base in 52 straight games, achieved in 2018, remains the longest in MLB since 2007.

DALLAS STARS

Ben Bishop’s shutout streak of 233 minutes

Bishop’s streak is actually 233 minutes and four seconds, and it came over parts of six games during the 2018-19 season. The team was 6-0-0 in that stretch. Bishop has battled injury for more than a year, and his career may be over, but when was right he was one of the best goalies in the NHL.

Mike Modano’s six straight games with a goal

The franchise record for consecutive games with a goal is 10, set by Brian Bellows in 1990, but you can’t have one of these lists without Mike Modano, who scored a goal in six straight games in 1992.

All of these streaks are impressive, but what Trevon Diggs is doing right now is absurdly historic.