Since Zuerlein's onside kick can only work once

John813 · Sep 22, 2020

We'll use the eggplant method next time

sunalsorises · Sep 22, 2020

Hopefully once is all they need it. That was a brilliant kick and I could see it working again once people forget about it or if someone muffs “just jumping on it.”

RustyBourneHorse · Sep 22, 2020

Red Dragon said:
Zuerlein pulled off the trick perfectly, but it's only going to work once. From this point on, all Cowboys opponents are going to pounce on that ball before it goes 10 yards. They aren't going to stand and watch like the Falcons did.

So does he have to go back to performing normal traditional onside kicks from this point on?

Just means he'll have to be more creative next time? Maybe try what Pat McAfee used to do.

Reverend Conehead · Sep 22, 2020

Red Dragon said:
Zuerlein pulled off the trick perfectly, but it's only going to work once. From this point on, all Cowboys opponents are going to pounce on that ball before it goes 10 yards. They aren't going to stand and watch like the Falcons did.

So does he have to go back to performing normal traditional onside kicks from this point on?

He could use one of those ones with an unpredictable bounce and hope one of our players has better luck and/or better concentration than the opponents.

Jipper · Sep 22, 2020

Red Dragon said:
Duh, but this answer is meaningless. Of course every team that has to do an onside kick wishes they didn't have to do one. If it were as simple as "We'll kick the #$#($*(* out of the other team," the Cowboys would go 16-0 every year.

You can't go 16-0 just because you want to.

so the answer to the "meaningless" answer is what? i was clearly having a little bit of fun...stop taking yourself so seriously.

HungryLion · Sep 22, 2020

MWH1967 said:
I say kick it hard and see if you can get it to bounce off someone...

I like this idea. Just drill the ball right at somebody’s face. Hope they drop it.

Runwildboys · Sep 22, 2020

Red Dragon said:
Zuerlein pulled off the trick perfectly, but it's only going to work once. From this point on, all Cowboys opponents are going to pounce on that ball before it goes 10 yards. They aren't going to stand and watch like the Falcons did.

So does he have to go back to performing normal traditional onside kicks from this point on?

It will probably never work the same way, but it could possibly work by virtue of being a difficult ball to handle. Once the receiving team touches it, it's a live ball, and if they muff it, our guys could get it.

glimmerman · Sep 22, 2020

It was the way the ball was spinning. I think they were afraid if they touched it they couldn’t handle it with out the ball sliding out of there hands..

Runwildboys · Sep 22, 2020

MWH1967 said:
I say kick it hard and see if you can get it to bounce off someone...

Runwildboys · Sep 22, 2020

ItzKelz said:
Sounds like they had a plan on if they had pounced on it to try to blow up the pouncer to knock the ball loose. I think we will see it again in the future. Hopefully it is not needed in the near future.

Amen!

ActualCowboysFan · Sep 22, 2020

CowboysWillRise said:
its possible that Atlanta wasn't just stupid, but didn't anticipate the ball going 10 yards, and therefore didn't want to risk jumping on it while its spinning around and end up losing it creating a live ball.

If Zuerlein can get enough spin on that ball who knows, maybe it works again? All I know for sure is that was a hell of an onside kick play.

Probable. If teams adjust to put their hand guys in front then you basically try to hit and fight for the ball under the pile. I think it was an ingenious play because it stressed quick decision making. You could see Hurst figure it out too right before it crossed. I think it might be a new wrinkle for the play. Special teams is fun as heck to coach because you get to try creative solutions like this and we have one of the best at it.

guag · Sep 22, 2020

MWH1967 said:
I say kick it hard and see if you can get it to bounce off someone...

I actually like this idea lol. I wonder if anyone's ever tried it. Might work best for a kicker with a monster leg. Just line-drive it directly into the chest of one of the receivers as hard as you can.

Red Dragon · Sep 22, 2020

guag said:
I actually like this idea lol. I wonder if anyone's ever tried it. Might work best for a kicker with a monster leg. Just line-drive it directly into the chest of one of the receivers as hard as you can.

Problem is, if you miss, that ball either goes out bounds untouched, or deep into opposing territory where they snag it easily.

Maxmadden · Sep 22, 2020

It was a perfect kick, but I suspect that was not exactly what he was trying to do.

Established1971 · Sep 22, 2020

CowboysWillRise said:
its possible that Atlanta wasn't just stupid, but didn't anticipate the ball going 10 yards, and therefore didn't want to risk jumping on it while its spinning around and end up losing it creating a live ball.

If Zuerlein can get enough spin on that ball who knows, maybe it works again? All I know for sure is that was a hell of an onside kick play.

so whats the rule, the receiving team can take possession of the ball before 10 yards, the kicking team must wait for it to go at least 10 yards. However if the receiving team attempts to take possession before 10 and fails to and touches it, then its live and the receiving team could conceivably get it before 10?
Is that how it works?
If so then I now get why Atl did what they did

Established1971 · Sep 22, 2020

Wasnt it a Cowboy kicker way back whenever who went up to the kick and swung his trailing leg over and kicked with that at the last second? Like some kind of behind the back pass in basketball? I may not be describing it right but I have this vague image in my head of some trickerino move

guag · Sep 22, 2020

Red Dragon said:
Problem is, if you miss, that ball either goes out bounds untouched, or deep into opposing territory where they snag it easily.

True, but if it gets drilled far back downfield then it would just be like a regular kickoff. And the out of bounds thing.... you're right, but then again I guess every approach to the onside kick has its flaws.

guag · Sep 22, 2020

Established1971 said:
Wasnt it a Cowboy kicker way back whenever who went up to the kick and swung his trailing leg over and kicked with that at the last second? Like some kind of behind the back pass in basketball? I may not be describing it right but I have this vague image in my head of some trickerino move

I know what you're getting at, and I vaguely remember something like this too. Don't know if it was the Cowboys or not though.

jazzcat22 · Sep 22, 2020

CowboysWillRise said:
its possible that Atlanta wasn't just stupid, but didn't anticipate the ball going 10 yards, and therefore didn't want to risk jumping on it while its spinning around and end up losing it creating a live ball.

If Zuerlein can get enough spin on that ball who knows, maybe it works again? All I know for sure is that was a hell of an onside kick play.

After 5 yards that was my thought, crap it won't go 10 years, it will stop moving.

jazzcat22 · Sep 22, 2020

If they need to do another on side kick, most likely it could be a pooch type kick. A blooper in the air, let a player run under it to catch it. But it has to be a surprise kick.

Since Zuerlein's onside kick can only work once

John813

Well-Known Member

sunalsorises

Well-Known Member

RustyBourneHorse

Well-Known Member

Reverend Conehead

Well-Known Member

Jipper

Well-Known Member

HungryLion

Well-Known Member

Runwildboys

Confused about stuff

glimmerman

Well-Known Member

Runwildboys

Confused about stuff

Runwildboys

Confused about stuff

ActualCowboysFan

Well-Known Member

guag

Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01

Red Dragon

Well-Known Member

Maxmadden

Well-Known Member

Established1971

fiveandcounting

Established1971

fiveandcounting

guag

Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01

guag

Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01

jazzcat22

jazzcat22