As someone who does not live in the area of the Southeastern Conference, and who is not a major fan of the LSU Tigers, this writer was not someone who was already familiar with Kwon Alexander before his spectacular game with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. When he was on the road in the Georgia Dome on Sunday, taking on and resulting in a victory over the Atlanta Falcons, largely due to his impressive defensive performance.
He had been drafted by the Buccaneers in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft, but on Sunday he performed with the best of linebackers, like former first round pick and arguably the best linebacker in the division in Luke Kuechly.
In his game against the Falcons, he was able to intercept Matt Ryan. He actually had intercepted him twice, but one of them was called back from a penalty. That isn't his first interception of his career either, as he had intercepted Ryan Mallett, formerly of the Houston Texans earlier in the season. Alexander also had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery during the game against the Falcons, to go with 11 total tackles and a pass deflection.
In week nine he will be going up against the offensively hot New York Giants. Eli Manning threw five touchdowns on Sunday, but Alexander will be looking to shut them down to get the Bucs back to a .500 record at 4-4. If that's something they can accomplish, Lovie Smith will have to be a happy man as a turnaround season wasn't expected from the Bucs this year.
One thing for certain though is that Alexander is playing for his brother. He had this message posted on his twitter account @Showtime17Kwon after the game, "This one was for you lil soldier ! I love you baby boy! #RIHLILBROD"