OCHARD PARK, NY – Arizona Cardinals running back DeeJay Dallas made history on Sunday when he became the first player to return a kick for a touchdown in the NFL’s new dynamic kickoff format.

With 8:44 left in the game against the Buffalo Bills, and with the Cardinals trailing 31-20 just moments earlier, Dallas intercepted a kick by the Bills’ Tyler Bass at the Arizona 4-yard line. After breaking through the first hole, which Dallas described after the game as “tiny,” he left two Bills defenders behind at the 40-yard line and only had to overcome two more players.

Arizona cornerback Max Melton caught Bass coming toward Dallas, and running back Emari Demercado ran between Dallas and Bills safety Mike Edwards, allowing the returner to cover the final 40 yards virtually unchallenged.

With three Bills converging on him, Dallas leapt from the two-yard line into the end zone, becoming the first Cardinal to return a kickoff for a touchdown since David Johnson in 2015.

“That monkey almost fell on my back,” Dallas said with a laugh after the 34-28 loss. “I was on the 10. I was like, ‘Oh man. I don’t know. I don’t know.’ But yeah, the elements, we had a lot of wind and they kind of hung the ball, (I) caught it, it wasn’t perfect, but the guys up front made it happen. The rest is history.”

Dallas said he was determined to get into the end zone no matter what.

After all the talk and debate about how the new dynamic kickoff should be played on both sides of the ball, he knew before his team’s season opener that it wouldn’t take much to get a big lead – or a touchdown.

“Yeah, it’s almost like Cover 0,” he said. “If you get past the first line of defense, you’re on the kicker.”

After the game, he called his wife and two sons, who were jumping for joy at their father’s return.

“It’s unbelievable,” Dallas said.