The Patriots with Bill Belichick are already a tough test no matter the roster and after head coach Mike McCarthy wasted the coaches challenge in the first quarter, the referees decided not to review it. Plays like this are why a computer chip will eventually be put in the football /tTJHnL2fyR Quarterback Dak Prescott and the offense made it down to the Patriots 1-yard line after a 13-yard completion to wide receiver Cedrick Wilson.Īfter being stuffed twice, Prescott appeared to score on a sneak and had his entire upper half in the endzone before going down. The Cowboys forced a three-and-out on the next drive but special teams coordinator John Fassel had a trick up his sleeve, sending a block unit on the punt and linebacker Luke Gifford made the play.įassel has been questioned during his Cowboys tenure but the blocked punt had a sense of redemption. Defensive end Randy Gregory’s strip-sack sparked the defense after New England was setting up to score more points. One other significant observation: none of the blocked punts had particularly elaborate schemes outside of shifting before the snap and outnumbering the punt team.On two straight drives, the Dallas defense denied the Patriots from scoring after looking pedestrian against Mac Jones on the first two touchdown drives. This is an important takeaway for coaches and fans alike “must have” blocked punts are the most difficult to execute because the punt team is quite aware of the situation. And all four blocked punts occurred in relatively “innocuous” time situations in the 1st and 3rd quarters of games. Three had an overload rush to the punter’s foot. Second, the punting team is less likely to try a fake because of the combination of the yardage to gain and field position. First, a running into the kicker penalty does not cause a first down. This allows punt block teams to be more aggressive for two reasons. All four were on 4th & 9 or more with the ball was placed inside the opponent’s own 35 yard line. Jackson) time to get there:Ī few trends emerge from the four blocked punts. Instead, a low snap allows for the unblocked Patriot (#27 J.C. But the jammer probably can’t get near the block point from so far outside, and the Bills could have tightened their own gunner’s split in response. This may be because the right outside jammer comes down late and rushes. This time, the Patriots line up five left and four right:Īlthough the Bills’ punter is left footed, the personal protector is set to the right. The Bills line up in a standard punt formation. Week 4: 6:30 left in 1st Quarter, 4th & 14 from Buf 32 This creates a greater distance to the block point for the unblocked outside rusher. A 6-2 overload is a great look to fake a punt against! Next, the Chiefs could have brought in their gunner to a tight split. Or because the Chiefs called a fake punt but apparently weren’t on the same page. He may not have because the punter is left footed. So what could the Chiefs have done differently? First, the personal protector likely should have switched to the overloaded side. Instead, the right guard steps out to block (#18) Matthew Slater, and (#43) Nate Ebner runs free up the middle to block the punt:Īnd it looks like (#29) Justin Bethel would have reached the block point as well. Even if the long snapper and the entire right side of the punt team block the most inside man, the Patriots would have two outside rushers free. Although they start with four men on each side, the Patriots shift to six right and two left from the punter’s perspective just before the snap with almost no space between them:īut the Chiefs don’t adjust in any manner. The Patriots have eight men up, a jammer on each gunner, and one returner. On 4th & 19 from their own 35 the Chiefs line up in a standard spread pro punt formation, with three blockers to each side of the center, a personal protector, and a gunner split out wide to each side. Week 14: 3rd Quarter, 4th & 19 from KC 35 Two of the blocked punts are primarily scheme related while the other two are primarily attributable to execution. Further analysis also shows how to prevent unforced errors on your own punt team. Analyzing each blocked punt provides insight into how Special Teams units can be aggressive going after punts-teams who block punts win the vast majority of games. The 2019 New England Patriots blocked a team record 4 punts, the first time an NFL team had done so since the 2014 Eagles.
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