Before Thursday, there had been 425 occasions this season when an NFL defensive player advanced the football after recovering a fumble or making an interception. Only one player in that sample—Logan Ryan of the New England Patriots in Week 12—attempted to lateral the ball to a teammate to gain more yardage. Ryan’s play, which was negated by a penalty, may have seemed unnecessarily reckless considering the situation.

But there’s evidence he tapped into one of the NFL’s most underused weapons.

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