Smith has made his share of mistakes, of course, but he has also made plays that the average observer wouldn't realize he deserves credit for. According to defensive coordinator Alan Williams, Smith broke up a third-quarter deep pass to Johnson on Sunday essentially by instinct.
"That wasn't necessarily his play," Williams said. "He did a great job of coming from the backside and making a play on the football. He does that more often than not. There have been some plays where he's made up for some other people. When I was in Indianapolis, coach [Tony] Dungy would call that, so to speak, 'The Eraser.' He can erase some mistakes that maybe other people make."
Naturally, Smith's crushing hit on Johnson stands as his trademark moment.
"He's actually a lot bigger than I realized," Smith said. "Still, for me, once a play starts, you just react and play ball."
Added Sanford: "He gets to talking smack every now and then. I saw him talking one time [to Johnson]. He's like, 'You're getting scared. Coming across the middle. He's scared! He's scared!' "
Erasing mistakes is one thing. Erasing Calvin Johnson is on a whole different level.
