The Baltimore Ravens accomplished a lot on Saturday. The team secured its second straight AFC North title, Lamar Jackson increased his numbers in the MVP race and Derrick Henry continued to write his name into the NFL record books. Henry also earned some nice bonus money along with his teammate Kyle Van Noy.

But the biggest glory went to nose tackle Michael Pierce. All 355 pounds of him.

While the Ravens and Cleveland Browns went all out in a lopsided Baltimore win, the Ravens had Pierce fake a rush and then fell back into coverage on second and sixth. That alone would have been fun, but then Pierce took advantage of running back Jacob Kibodi’s route and caught Bailey Zappe’s pass.

Pierce had plenty of running room in front of him but decided to slide down and commit the turnover. He was soon swarmed by almost the entire Ravens team. Up in the locker room, the Ravens coaches had a similar reaction, while offensive coordinator Todd Monken was simply stunned.

Normally, intercepting a big man like Pierce requires a deflected pass at the offensive line. You almost never see a nose tackle like Pierce anywhere other than the middle of the defensive line. For some reason the Ravens cut him and he played like a real linebacker.

According to Jonas Shaffer of the Baltimore Banner, Pierce is the heaviest NFL player to record an interception since at least 2000.

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said after the game that the play earned Pierce a game ball, calling the pick “the craziest, most amazing play in NFL history.”

Pierce also confirmed that it was the first interception of his entire football career and then gave some insight into what was going through his mind on the field:

Pierce is in his eighth NFL season after starting it with the Ravens as an undrafted free agent out of Samford. He became a key part of the Baltimore defense as a run clogger, traded to the Minnesota Vikings in 2020 and then returned to the Ravens in 2022. Like many players his size, he has struggled with injuries in the past.

Nose tackles rarely get the spotlight or statistics – Pierce has 9.5 sacks in his career – but Pierce has always been an important player. And sometimes you have the chance to show that even big men can catch.