Bengals' Jordan Battle intercepts Malik Willis twice after finding tell in Miami QB's throwing mechanics

The Cincinnati Bengals' defense should take a collective bow after identifying and exploiting an advantage over the Miami Dolphins in Week 5.

Prior to the game, safety Jordan Battle revealed that the Bengals noticed a subtle tell in Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis' throwing mechanics that they felt they could use to time their pass defense. They seemingly did just that when battle intercepted Willis twice in the first half of their meeting on Sunday.

"He has a slight little tap before every throw, so I feel like we could use that as a key to break on the ball," Battle said after the Bengals' Thursday practice. "He likes to tap the ball before he throws it, or he takes his hand off, and that gives the read to break."

How much of a role the tell played in Battle's two takeaways is uncertain. Perhaps it was a coincidence that he was the one to both point it out publicly and haul in a pair of interceptions, or maybe he and his teammates were in the right place at the right time after spotting it.

The first interception was primarily a product of the pass rush, not Battle's position group in the secondary. Boye Mafe pressured Willis and got his hand on the ball during the release, which shortened its trajectory and made it playable for Battle.

Five minutes later, Battle made an excellent play on the ball for his second pick of the second quarter. As Willis rolled out of the pocket, Battle left his assignment to step in front of the intended receiver and beat him to the ball.

If Willis' tell impacted either play, it is more likely that it did so on this one than the first.

At the time of Willis' second interception, he had more passes caught by Cincinnati defenders than Miami receivers. He was 1-for-7 for 22 yards late in the second quarter. The Bengals capitalized on the second takeaway with a touchdown on the ensuing possession to take a 21-7 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Revealing the tell before the game was a risky move for Battle. If Willis and the Dolphins were not already keen on the tendency, they certainly were after Battle's media availability. They may have already discovered it through self-scouting, but if not, three days was not much time to eliminate the habit from Willis' mechanics.

Cincinnati entered the week with a bottom-tier pass defense, so any advantages it could identify would be welcome. The Bengals ranked in the bottom half of the league in EPA per pass, interceptions, time to throw, pass yards per game and average yards of separation. Sunday's performance should deliver a climb in the statistical rankings.