The Seattle Seahawks are flying high right now, and none higher than Jamal Adams.
The 28-year-old safety produced an unorthodox intervention in the pivotal play of the game as Seattle beat Cleveland Browns 24-20 to move top of the NFC West.
With the Seahawks trailing by three points going into the final two minutes of the game, Adams leapt to block Cleveland Browns quarterback P.J. Walker's pass, heading the ball into the air and into the arms of cornerback Julian Love for the interception.
Seattle quarterback Geno Smith capitalised on the turnover, driving his side 57 yards in five plays before finding rookie wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the endzone for the game-winning touchdown.
"I got that from Messi," Adams joked after the game. "I was just coming on a blitz. We needed the ball back, and seeing the guard kind of pull, I jumped as high as I could and luckily pulled it off, man, right off the head."
"That was in the air for forever," said Love, who was the beneficiary of the tipped pass.
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"I was wondering initially how that got up there. That usually is not the rebound off of a hand."
But while Adams claimed to have drawn inspiration from Messi, Love insisted the play was more reminiscent of another Ballon d'Or-winning great.
"He looked like prime [Cristiano] Ronaldo right there," said Love.
"Man, this is what he lives for," Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said of Adams.
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"He lives for these opportunities, and to go for it when it was on the line, everything was right there, he came up with a way to figure it out and did something that changed our fortune in this game. It was fantastic."
Seahawks improved to 5-2 with the win, leapfrogging San Francisco 49ers (5-3) to the top of the NFC West pile after they suffered their third straight defeat,
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