O’Neal Ties Interception Record in Win

Sunday afternoons have provided Deltha O’Neal respite from grief and temporary solace from personal pain.

Four weeks ago, one of his uncles and a cousin were killed in a car accident while driving to see O’Neal play cornerback in the Denver Broncos’ season-opening game.

Perhaps to protect the 23-year-old O’Neal, his family has refused to tell him exactly what happened near Klamath Falls, Ore. But Courtney Jessie and Tameika Smith are a source of inspiration as he tries to establish himself.

“The passing of my uncle and my cousin a couple weeks ago, that built me up,” O’Neal said after tying an NFL record Sunday with four interceptions in Denver’s 20-6 victory over Kansas City.

“I’m dedicating this and a couple of the others that I picked off in the season to them. I’m trying to stay out there on Cloud Nine, you could say, to stay focused.”

O’Neal, in his first year as a starter, became the 18th NFL player with four interceptions in a game. The Broncos enjoyed a big day in front of former defensive coordinator Greg Robinson, who was fired in January.

Not only did Robinson have to watch O’Neal and the Broncos antagonize Chief quarterback Trent Green, but his Chief defense failed to stop Mike Anderson and Rod Smith, who accounted for nearly 90% of Denver’s offense.

Anderson ran for 155 yards and Smith had 110 yards receiving. Both scored touchdowns to help the Broncos (3-1) end a four-game losing streak to the Chiefs (1-3).

“Oh, man, it’s huge,” Smith said. “I went to school in Missouri and all I heard was Chiefs, Chiefs, Chiefs. The most important thing was to get the win, especially against a team that had our number.”

While the offense rebounded from a poor performance against the Baltimore Ravens, the defense was the story for the Broncos.

Denver sacked Green four times, held the Chiefs to 297 yards and capped the victory when O’Neal returned his fourth interception 27 yards with 1:46 remaining.

“The same guy got all of them?” Green said. “I’ve had four picks in a game before, but never all by the same guy.”

O’Neal would have been alone in the record book if not for a pass that went through his hands late in the first half.

In addition to being victimized by O’Neal, Kansas City converted only three of 11 third-down plays and had few offensive threats outside of All-Pro tight end Tony Gonzalez, who had eight catches for 129 yards.

“We look great on the practice field. We didn’t do it today,” Chief Coach Dick Vermeil said. “Credit Denver. I’m ticked at all of us.”

While O’Neal policed the secondary, Denver’s offense relied mainly on Anderson. Smith’s four-yard touchdown catch came five seconds after O’Neal’s 42-yard interception return and gave Denver a 20-6 lead with 8:11 remaining.

After struggling for yardage last week against Baltimore, Anderson had 106 yards by halftime.

“We ain’t lost it yet,” he said. “We can still run the ball.”