News: NFL rules videoboard will stay where it is. Jerry wins.

[DallasFanSince86]

http://i356.***BLOCKED***/albums/oo4/DallasEast1701/Punting%20in%20New%20Stadium/PANICPUNTGIF.gif

:laugh2:

That's pretty good DallasEast.

 

[adbutcher]

http://i356.***BLOCKED***/albums/oo4/DallasEast1701/Punting%20in%20New%20Stadium/PANICPUNTGIF.gif

 

[jimmy40]

In other words, he hit the video board on purpose. No one will ever tell me differently and convince me.

I want you to think about this. What kind of moron punts down the middle of the field? According to Matt McBriar a good Punter always tries to pin the ball inside the 20 yard line. The sidelines are a Punter's friends.

It is extremely rare and questionable to punt to the middle of the field where an elusive return man has a wide open field to either side to try and elude tacklers. It is also rare to try and punt the ball straight up in the air. So straight up in the air and down the middle of the field?

That equals either stupidity or intent to hit the board.

Originally Published: November 15, 2007
Three reasons why coffin-corner kick is dying art
At least three factors preclude a revival of the coffin-corner kick, Mike Sando writes.
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Sando By Mike Sando
ESPN.com
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One question rises above all others when Chicago's Devin Hester returns a punt for a touchdown:

Why would anyone punt to the NFL's most dynamic return specialist?

[+] EnlargeDavid Hester
Greg Trott/Getty ImagesA sight NFL punters dread: Chicago's Devin Hester returning a punt for a touchdown. He has five punt-return TDs in 25 games.
The question arrives rhetorically, as if a giant dunce cap should descend upon anyone foolish enough to drop a punt within range of the prolific return man.

Thanks largely to Hester, punt-return touchdowns have risen over the past two seasons after leveling off in 2004 and 2005. Hester's five punt-return scores in 25 games have left victims longing for the days when coffin-corner punts buried opponents deep in their own territory.

Back then, punters sent low-trajectory kicks directly out of bounds and just short of the pylons marking the goal line, diminishing the possibility of a game-breaking return.

From 1978 to 1991, the league averaged 4.9 punt-return touchdowns over the first 10 weeks of each season. Teams have returned nine for touchdowns in 2007, consistent with 10-week averages (8.8) since 1992.

Expansion accounts for only some of the differential. The remainder seems to beg for a new approach, or perhaps even an old one. But coffin-corner tactics are showing few signs of life.

At least three factors preclude a revival:

1. The speed of the game

Players are faster than ever, leaving teams about 2.1 seconds to snap the ball and punt before pressure arrives. Most snappers need about 0.75 or 0.8 seconds to get the ball to the punter. That leaves 1.3 seconds for the punter to handle the snap, toss the ball, step forward and make contact.

[+] EnlargeJeff Feagles
Al Pereira/Getty ImagesGiants punter Jeff Feagles comes as close as any in the NFL to executing coffin-corner kicks.
"To be really accurate with a coffin-corner kick, you have to drop the ball lower, so it's not floating in the air before it hits the foot," said veteran special teams coach Steve Hoffman, who spent 16 seasons with Dallas before joining Atlanta (2006) and now Miami. "The problem is, when it comes off the foot low like that, you risk getting it blocked if there's pressure off the edges."

Former Oakland punter Jeff Gossett was among the fastest in memory at getting the ball out. He would rather strike the ball on the laces than spend precious time spinning it into alignment.

New York Giants punter Jeff Feagles, 41, a 20-year veteran, ranks among the fastest current punters. Feagles comes as close as any in the league to executing coffin-corner kicks.

"I'll be offset a yard to the left of the center, which will cut down on the [rush] angle," Feagles said. "Then we abbreviate our steps where you don't get real far out to the right because of the big rushers."

Instead of rushing 10 men, teams will send rushers around the outside. Defenders anticipate which side the punter might favor given circumstances such as wind and which hash mark is in play. An effective rusher can force a punter to angle the ball to the middle, setting up a potential return.

"People don't realize how hard it is to kick the ball out of bounds," said Hoffman, who recruited Feagles at the University of Miami in the 1980s. "Say we're punting and the wind is blowing with you, across your left shoulder to your right a little bit. That would be the easiest way to punt."

The opposing special teams coach knows this, of course, so he designs a rush to force the punter in the other direction, Hoffman explained. Meanwhile, the wind moves the ball ever so slightly during the roughly 2-foot drop from hands to foot. A variance of even half an inch can produce unexpected results over long distances.

"By the time it goes 50 yards down the field and the wind has affected it, it might blow all the way to the middle of the field," Hoffman said, "and it goes right down the middle to Devin Hester."

Punt Returns For TDs
(2001-2007)
Player TDs
Dante Hall 6
Antwaan Randle El 5
Devin Hester 5
Steve Smith 4
Eddie Drummond 4
Adam Jones 4
Phillip Buchanon 3
Nate Burleson 3
Dennis Northcutt 3
Allen Rossum 3

2. The chance for a turnover

Hester has five punt-return touchdowns in 75 career returns. That means he fails to score a touchdown 93.3 percent of the time. Hester has also fumbled eight times on punt returns, another reason some teams are willing to take their chances.

"If you look at Hester, he's fumbled a few, he'll run backwards some," one scout said. "Dante Hall [of the St. Louis Rams] will give up some yards, too. The flip side is they may break it for 80."

The more pronounced talent differentials at the college level might convince coaches there to kick away from a superior return man more frequently, the scout said. NFL teams are more evenly matched, leading coaches to trust their coverage units with more confidence.

3. Coaching skill

Coffin-corner kicks require another set of mechanics, including some that can interfere with a punter's conventional motion.

"Drop it too far in or out and you have to chase it with your leg," said Kansas City special teams coach Mike Priefer, who coached Feagles with the Giants. "That takes countless hours of practice. I can't tell you how hard Jeff worked even at age 38 on the fundamentals of the game."

Punt Return TDs Allowed (2001-2007)
Team TDs Allowed
Arizona 9
St. Louis 6
Kansas City 5
Tennessee 5
Jacksonville 5
Detroit 5
Indianapolis 4
San Francisco 4
New England 4
Cincinnati 4
N.Y. Giants 4

A few inconsistent performances can doom less-established punters to the waiver wire. They are often better served sticking to the basics.

"Guys have found more efficient ways to put it down in there (kicks inside opponents' 20-yard line)," Seattle punter Ryan Plackemeier.

Pooch punters strike the ball as high as possible without letting it "turn over" at the top. The goal is to discourage the ball from catapulting forward into the end zone upon impact, but pooch punters can have a harder time controlling distance.

Former Australian-rules players such as former longtime San Diego punter Darren Bennett helped to popularize an approach allowing for greater consistency. Aussie-style punters drop the ball with the front pointing down, striking the ball with their instep. The ball rotates backward and end-over-end, much like it would on a kickoff. The approach seems to be gaining momentum.

"The coffin corner went out so long ago," said Feagles, who entered the league with New England in 1988. "The reason I still do it is because I feel better kicking the angles. I aim for the 10 and I can control where the ball goes out.

"The young players, they really have never been taught how to coffin corner."

Mike Sando covers the NFL for ESPN.com.

 

[LeonDixson]

http://i356.***BLOCKED***/albums/oo4/DallasEast1701/Punting%20in%20New%20Stadium/PANICPUNTGIF.gif

One of your best, DE

 

[Tusan_Homichi]

http://i356.***BLOCKED***/albums/oo4/DallasEast1701/Punting%20in%20New%20Stadium/PANICPUNTGIF.gif

You are the master at stuff like this.

 

[Hostile]

That's strange all I've heard on different sports shows since this happened is how punters don't go for the corners anymore.

What do your eyes tell you about what "they" are saying? You see no punts towards anywhere but the middle of the field?

If I could, I'd post some footage.

 

[Undisputed]

I don't want this to sound angry or anything so please don't take it that way. But my answer is because it shouldn't be an issue in the 1st place. A punt hit the video board. So what? Yeah, it could have been placed higher to begin with, but so what? Is that really a big deal?

When the Cowboys go to play a team that share a field with a baseball team like Oakland, etc. and someone slips on the dirt, where is the outrage? It could have been avoided if the home team had some foresight and bought an artificial turf playing field to roll out before the football game.

When the Squealers allow a college team to play on Saturday before they play on Sunday in bad weather, do the pundits give a crap? The sloppy field where punts have been known to stick in the mud and get no roll at all impact the game to a much larger degree than an occasional do over. That situation is totally avoidable.

That's why I consider it a "win". It's a little deal that was blown entirely out of proportion to it's real consequence and impact on the game just because Fisher takes this opportunity to turn into a cry baby.

Waaa the nasty Cowboys game planned against us.

Waaa our punt hit the scoreboard and I had to throw a challenge flag even though it wasn't charged as a challenge

Waaa our players had to walk close by their fans when entering the field.

Personally, I never called it a "big deal". Just because it isn't the end of the world as we know it, doesn't mean that Jerry and the NFL don't deserve criticism. If the video board can be raised without a ridiculous amount of inconvenience then it should definately be moved up, even if the guy in row A seat 5 has to deal with a bit more of a glare. I don't see how punts hitting our video board and causing an unnecessary distraction is a "win" for us.

Yes, the media blows things out of proportion. It's the media. We're the Cowboys. One of the biggest acts in sports. But I don't buy the "out to get us" mentality that seems to have been adopted by others. So I guess I see nothing to celebrate about. This decision doesn't do anything to help the game of football. I liken that to Raiders fans jumping around in glee, "Al Davis wins!!! We get to keep our annoying baseball diamond sand!!! Stupid NFL. That'll learn em'! "

 

[burmafrd]

There is no reason a punter cannot learn to do coffin corner kicks. He just needs the proper coaching. Frankly its laziness on the part of NFL teams not willing to spend the money for the coaching. Which is dumb. And this BS about players being so much faster is just that. There is one guy who is still doing it well even with these so called faster and quicker rushers. So you cannot tell me that its not doable. And you would pin the other team back and prevent returns. Pooch kicking barely works 1/3 the time. Coffin corner kickers can do it 2/3 of the time and when they fail there is still no return.

 

[Zaxor]

http://i356.***BLOCKED***/albums/oo4/DallasEast1701/Punting%20in%20New%20Stadium/PANICPUNTGIF.gif

Out-freaking-standing

 

[Boyzmamacita]

http://i356.***BLOCKED***/albums/oo4/DallasEast1701/Punting%20in%20New%20Stadium/PANICPUNTGIF.gif

I love it. The KingKongTron swatting down punts and everybody losing their damn minds over it.

 

[StanleySpadowski]

Anyone want to guess how many punts in last night's NE/Washingon game exceeded 80'.

 

[bbgun]

NFL adopts do-overs; games to end when Jimmy's mom calls for him

By MJD
Yahoo Sports

Well, it happened. The NFL officially has officially embraced do-overs as league policy. In the new Cowboys Stadium, when a ball hits the monstrous video board, we will have a do-over, just like you had when you were a kid playing in your backyard and a wayward ball went into the street, hit a telephone wire, or got caught in a tree. The NFL has adopted a rule widely used by nine-year-olds across the world. Awesome.

In other rule changes announced today, the NFL announced that all games end immediately the second Jimmy's mom yells, "Supper's ready!", it's every man for themselves if someone accidentally breaks a window, and no one -- and I mean no one -- better tell their mom if Tony says another bad word. In addition, when games have concluded, any low-down mongrel who drinks the purple stuff instead of the Sunny D will be suspended for eight games.

This is absolutely absurd. The video board can be raised. Maybe it costs a lot to do it, but for Pete's sake, is the NFL hurting for money? Is Jerry Jones hurting for money? There's absolutely no reason why it can't be raised, and yet, we're going to head into the NFL season with a possible impediment to fair, competitive play. It doesn't make one damn bit of sense.

The gunners on the punt team can get exhausted when having to do their extremely taxing job of consecutive plays. A game-changing punt return could be wiped out if replay shows (and those extra replay breaks are going to be oodles and oodles of fun) that the ball nicked the board. A punt that pins someone deep in their own territory could be nullified for the same reason. A season-ending injury could be suffered on a play that will not count.

All would cause major controversy. All would be unfair. And all could be avoided, quite simply.

I absolutely do not get it. If we're going to leave one obstruction in play, we might as well do it all over the league. Turn NFL fields into mini-golf courses. Windmills to run through, moats in the red zone, a giant clown's mouth that spits balls back after they go through the field goal posts.

The only possible reason for this is that Jerry Jones has a tremendous amount of stroke with the NFL and Roger Goodell. If Jerry can get away with a hazard to competitive play in his stadium, it's a little frightening to think about what he or other owners could talk Goodell into.

 

[DallasEast]

NFL adopts do-overs; games to end when Jimmy's mom calls for him

By MJD
Yahoo Sports

I absolutely do not get it.

:hammock:

 

[Undisputed]

a giant clown's mouth that spits balls back after they go through the field goal posts.

 

[Hoofbite]

NFL adopts do-overs; games to end when Jimmy's mom calls for him

By MJD
Yahoo Sports

Well, it happened. The NFL officially has officially embraced do-overs as league policy. In the new Cowboys Stadium, when a ball hits the monstrous video board, we will have a do-over, just like you had when you were a kid playing in your backyard and a wayward ball went into the street, hit a telephone wire, or got caught in a tree. The NFL has adopted a rule widely used by nine-year-olds across the world. Awesome.

In other rule changes announced today, the NFL announced that all games end immediately the second Jimmy's mom yells, "Supper's ready!", it's every man for themselves if someone accidentally breaks a window, and no one -- and I mean no one -- better tell their mom if Tony says another bad word. In addition, when games have concluded, any low-down mongrel who drinks the purple stuff instead of the Sunny D will be suspended for eight games.

This is absolutely absurd. The video board can be raised. Maybe it costs a lot to do it, but for Pete's sake, is the NFL hurting for money? Is Jerry Jones hurting for money? There's absolutely no reason why it can't be raised, and yet, we're going to head into the NFL season with a possible impediment to fair, competitive play. It doesn't make one damn bit of sense.

The gunners on the punt team can get exhausted when having to do their extremely taxing job of consecutive plays. A game-changing punt return could be wiped out if replay shows (and those extra replay breaks are going to be oodles and oodles of fun) that the ball nicked the board. A punt that pins someone deep in their own territory could be nullified for the same reason. A season-ending injury could be suffered on a play that will not count.

All would cause major controversy. All would be unfair. And all could be avoided, quite simply.

I absolutely do not get it. If we're going to leave one obstruction in play, we might as well do it all over the league. Turn NFL fields into mini-golf courses. Windmills to run through, moats in the red zone, a giant clown's mouth that spits balls back after they go through the field goal posts.

The only possible reason for this is that Jerry Jones has a tremendous amount of stroke with the NFL and Roger Goodell. If Jerry can get away with a hazard to competitive play in his stadium, it's a little frightening to think about what he or other owners could talk Goodell into.

Probably not much. Its not like Roger would burn a box of evidence.

 

[Big Dakota]

NFL adopts do-overs; games to end when Jimmy's mom calls for him

By MJD
Yahoo Sports

Well, it happened. The NFL officially has officially embraced do-overs as league policy. In the new Cowboys Stadium, when a ball hits the monstrous video board, we will have a do-over, just like you had when you were a kid playing in your backyard and a wayward ball went into the street, hit a telephone wire, or got caught in a tree. The NFL has adopted a rule widely used by nine-year-olds across the world. Awesome.

In other rule changes announced today, the NFL announced that all games end immediately the second Jimmy's mom yells, "Supper's ready!", it's every man for themselves if someone accidentally breaks a window, and no one -- and I mean no one -- better tell their mom if Tony says another bad word. In addition, when games have concluded, any low-down mongrel who drinks the purple stuff instead of the Sunny D will be suspended for eight games.

This is absolutely absurd. The video board can be raised. Maybe it costs a lot to do it, but for Pete's sake, is the NFL hurting for money? Is Jerry Jones hurting for money? There's absolutely no reason why it can't be raised, and yet, we're going to head into the NFL season with a possible impediment to fair, competitive play. It doesn't make one damn bit of sense.

The gunners on the punt team can get exhausted when having to do their extremely taxing job of consecutive plays. A game-changing punt return could be wiped out if replay shows (and those extra replay breaks are going to be oodles and oodles of fun) that the ball nicked the board. A punt that pins someone deep in their own territory could be nullified for the same reason. A season-ending injury could be suffered on a play that will not count.

All would cause major controversy. All would be unfair. And all could be avoided, quite simply.

I absolutely do not get it. If we're going to leave one obstruction in play, we might as well do it all over the league. Turn NFL fields into mini-golf courses. Windmills to run through, moats in the red zone, a giant clown's mouth that spits balls back after they go through the field goal posts.

The only possible reason for this is that Jerry Jones has a tremendous amount of stroke with the NFL and Roger Goodell. If Jerry can get away with a hazard to competitive play in his stadium, it's a little frightening to think about what he or other owners could talk Goodell into.

:tantrum: It's OK honey, mommy will be home soon.

 

[Rogah]

Personally, I never called it a "big deal". Just because it isn't the end of the world as we know it, doesn't mean that Jerry and the NFL don't deserve criticism. If the video board can be raised without a ridiculous amount of inconvenience then it should definately be moved up, even if the guy in row A seat 5 has to deal with a bit more of a glare. I don't see how punts hitting our video board and causing an unnecessary distraction is a "win" for us.

I agree with this 100%.

I love the Cowboys but I refuse to be a homer or an apologist. If/when this happens in the regular season, it will be embarrassing for both the team and the league - and God forbid something significant happened during a play which didn't count. Since it took about 40 minutes of the first preseason game for it to happen (and I don't for a second believe the punter was trying to hit it), I think we can expect it will happen again eventually.

 

[DallasEast]

I agree with this 100%.

I love the Cowboys but I refuse to be a homer or an apologist. If/when this happens in the regular season, it will be embarrassing for both the team and the league. And since it took about 40 minutes of the first preseason game for it to happen (and I don't for a second believe the punter was trying to hit it), I think we can expect it will happen again eventually.

........

 

[Rogah]

........

 

[WoodysGirl]

5:36
Tim MacMahon: There is press box debate about whether Lee nicked the Jerrytron on one of his punts.

And he definitely just conked one off it.

We'll say Lee hit it 1.5 times.

5:43
Tim MacMahon: Lee looked like he did take a shot at it late in warmups.

Mat McBriar has no interest in making his boss look bad by hitting the Jerrytron.

Edit

5:51
toddarcher: Andy Lee hit the video board once in about 25 punts during pregame.