TAMPA, Fla. — Aqib Talib received the warm homecoming he had hoped for when he landed in Tampa, the city in which he played the first four years of his NFL career. Fans greeted him at the Broncos’ hotel, and others welcomed him back to Raymond James Stadium.

And then, of course, any nice feelings were eradicated when he promptly intercepted the Bucs’ young star quarterback, Jameis Winston, not once, but twice in the first 17 minutes of play.

The first interception came on the third play of the game. Winston, on third-and-6 at Tampa’s 29-yard line, sent a short pass up the middle intended for receiver Adam Humphries. Talib jumped the route and ran it back 25 yards before being brought down by center Joe Hawley.

This Jameis Winston pass did not go as planned… Aqib Talib with the PICK. #Broncos #DENvsTB https://t.co/954C4LA99W — NFL (@NFL) October 2, 2016

“Vincent Jackson was my man,” Talib explained. “He ran under, he got cut by the inside guy and I knew they were going to run a follow — it’s a route concept called ‘follow.’ I knew they were going to run follow, so I waited for Chris (Harris) to run it and I jumped it. Good call by coach, man. We had a good idea what they were going to run. Good call by coach and we capitalized on it.”

The second interception came on a third-and-10 on the Bucs’ first drive of the second quarter. Winston, again in shotgun, aimed a pass for reciever Mike Evans that Talib picked off and ran back 15 yards to Tampa’s 27.

“I was in zone coverage, in cover-2, and (Winston) tried to fit it in a tight window, like he does, so I was able to make a play on it,” Talib said.

“I didn’t really bait him. I just knew if Vincent Jackson was going to run his curl, that was going to undercut. I thought he was going to run a seven-stop. He ran inside, he ran a curl. I knew I was going to stay outside and as soon as he stopped, I’d undercut him. Jameis threw it, and I was able to make a play on it.”

Hawley, again, brought Talib down before he could take it in for a touchdown. Related Articles October 2, 2016 Trevor Siemian out, Paxton Lynch in. And now Broncos have quarterback quandary.

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“I let a lineman tackle me today. I’m embarrassed,” Talib said. “I let a lineman tackle me today, man. He might have been the first lineman to tackle me. I just told Kapri Bibbs a lineman would never tackle me.”

Talib and the Broncos’ defense have a knack for entering games knowing much of what an opposing offense will do before they even take the field. It’s film study taken to the nth degree.

Sunday was no different. Talib and the Broncos’ secondary knew Winston’s tendencies and had a plan to exploit them.

“We watched the tape. We saw how confident he is in his arm, so we knew we would have five or six opportunities today to get our hands on the football,” Talib said. “We capitalized on three of them. We’ll take that.

“He throws the ball into tight windows. He throws the ball out of guys’ breaks, so while they’re breaking, he’s going to throw it out of your break so you better win. If a guy doesn’t win, if a defensive back wins, you’re going to have a chance to make a play. ”