There was a disagreement on who had the interception on the last play in the Buffalo Bills'

victory over Kansas City on Sunday. George Wilson claimed the pick was his but Jairus Byrd

said it was his.

After further review ...



"We both caught it and were on the ground," Byrd said. "I didn't know what had happened. I

didn't know who was down there, so I was trying to get the ball. And he was like, "It's me,

it's me' and I was like, "Oh, OK, go ahead, you could have it.' "



So instead of 10 interceptions for the season, Byrd is stuck on nine.

"Yeah, 9. It was fun," he said. "But George, I guess, wanted it so it's all good."



Wilson won this round, but so far this season, no one is better at picking off passes than

Byrd.

The rookie from Oregon's nine interceptions are one shy of the club record held by Billy

Atkins (1961) and Tom Janik (1967). Two players — Tony Greene (1974 and 1977) and Nate

Odomes (1993) — had nine interceptions in a season. Archie Matsos held the franchise

rookie record of eight interceptions for 49 years until Byrd broke it last Sunday at Kansas

City.

Byrd also is the league leader in interceptions and has one more than New Orleans' Darren

Sharper and Green Bay's Charles Woodson. In 1952, Hall of Famer Dick "Night Train" Lane set

the record for most interceptions in a season with 14 in 12 games.

Byrd, who missed most of training camp after sports hernia surgery, may have had even

better stats if he hadn't been dealing with a sore groin for more than a month and a half.

"It feels great," Byrd said. "Any time you can lead the league in interceptions, I think

that's big. But like I've said before, with those interceptions I just wish we could've done

more with them. It would've meant a lot more. But at the same time, it's cool."



He was a cornerback in college and now he's a free safety. He hasn't played free safety

since high school, but it's hard to tell.

"His growth and development can only get better," Bills coach Perry Fewell said. "When the

ball is tipped in practice, he's there. Last week there were two or three balls tipped and he

got them and intercepted them. You could hear everybody say, "He's back!' They know that he's

roaming around there and his eyes are rolling around and he's a ball hawk."



His interception numbers alone should put Byrd on the short list of Defensive Rookie of the

Year candidates.

"Yeah, it's a cool thing," he said. "I can't sit here and tell you that it's not. But it's

just our season's not going the way I'd like it to go. I've said it before, if we could be in

the playoffs doing something like that, I'd give that up in a heartbeat, especially guys here

that it's been so long since they've been to the playoffs. I mean, it would be something cool

to experience with a lot of the older guys."



Byrd is among players in the secondary who Fewell said have improved in recent weeks after

extra film study.



"The guys up front are giving us better pressure, but the guys in the back row I cannot say

enough about," Fewell said. "They are really into it from a mental standpoint. I think they've

matured over the last year, and I think that maturity is paying off for us."



Byrd said the players in the secondary are close, even when they're fighting over

interceptions. "We just all communicate, and at the end of the day, we're all on the same

page," he said. "We all have each other's back."

. . .





About 2,000 tickets remain for Sunday's game against New England and more than 5,000 remain

for the Jan. 3 game against Indianapolis.

A Two Game Holiday Pack is available for fans looking to purchase tickets for both games.

With tickets, fans also receive a Bills hat, key chain and towel. This offer is available at

ticketmaster.com.

Individual game tickets are priced between $38 and $77.