Punt play with gunner completely uncovered

[Nightman]

when I was playing I was the personal protector on the punt team. In the situation the OP describes, I would make a call and the long snapper would then snap the ball to me rather than the punter and I would throw it to the receiver. Sadly, this scenario never presented itself.

That is why I would keep a Special Teams guy like Tebow, Pryor or Showers on the roster. Versatile guys that can throw the ball as the up man on punts or as the FG holder. If nothing else the other team would never know when to expect a fake but you would always be ready.

 

[speedkilz88]

It's Chris Jones. He's good at everything but punting.

He's 7th in net punting average.

 

[conner01]

Keep in mind that the only reason Jones the punter is here, is because he is a good holder for Bailey's kicks.... it's not for his punting skills, his tackling skills and especially not for his throwing skills.

Garrett's special teams philosophy is to have a punter who is a good holder, punting skills is a plus. For a punt returner, its someone who can gracefully lift his arm in the air to call a fair catch, and who on 9 out of 10 tries will not drop the punt. Punt return yardage is way over rated.

Bet you didn't know he was 7th in net punting and forces a fair catch on nearly a third of his punts. We should cut him now

 

[LocimusPrime]

Trickery and deception those are paths to the dark side.

 

[EST_1986]

He's 7th in net punting average.

Oh those pesky facts

 

[Beast_from_East]

I just rewatched the play, it was 4th and 4 from our own 16 early second quarter, we were leading 7 - 0. Number 30 from the Dolphins was cheating towards the end of the line, so our gunner was uncovered. But the guy was watching the punter the entire time and actually drifted out to cover the gunner just before the snap. He didn't look over and suddenly realize the guy was uncovered, it was designed that way. He never even looked over, had his eyes on the punter the entire time. So while we could have tried to toss it out there for the first down, it would have been IMO a horrible idea. By the time the ball was snapped that guy would have been running full speed for our gunner.

Edit: And the gunner in question was Byron Jones. I'm not exactly comfortable putting a 4th down conversion on a Jones to Jones pass. In case nobody has noticed, our DBs don't seem to be able to catch passes that hit them directly in the chest or hands.

Good point, we are like last in the league in interceptions so our DBs already have hands of stone

 

[BotchedLobotomy]

Our special teams struggle with the basics, last thing we need is for them to try something like that on our own 16 with a one TD lead.

 

[gimmesix]

You guys remember this play in the first half?

Dallas punting and Miami left one of our gunners WIDE OPEN for a good 10 seconds before coming back to cover him. I remember we tried that on the Colts last year and the guy just dropped the ball or else we would have given up a big play.

Does our SP have a play or practice this option? If the gunner is wide open have the punter throw it to him for a completion and 1st down??? Do we practice this? I was yelling at the TV!! Sure we would have botched it but that was an OPPORTUNITY.

BTW I am not trying to nit pick in a win but rather asking if the team should have taken that chance?

If we would have snapped the ball, the defender would have immediately broke toward the open man. Depending on the pass thrown by a punter, the defender might have had the opportunity to get there and make a play or it could have been a big play.

If you ask me, Miami was trying to bait us into that throw, with the defender planning to race at least as soon as the ball was snapped. I'm glad we didn't take the bait.

 

[DandyDon52]

Ok no one talked about this, but seems Dallas punt team doesnt know what to do when this
happens , and it is rare, but they need to spot it and get the ball snapped and try to get
the first down.

Or do they? If the guy drops the pass it is a disaster.
But the wide guys should be guys who can catch, and then they should spot and take advantage of stuff
like this instead of just yeah hes open but lets just kick it.

you can watch this play in the game replay thread, did the sc from that.
Miami wound up with the ball at their 42 after the punt.
The miami guy on the bottom end is the closest defender.

 

[Tusan_Homichi]

Yeah. I wanna say Miami adjusted just before the snap and at least had a guy in the vicinity.

Even if they didn't though? Indy tried that last year against us and the dude flat out dropped it. Backed up that far, I'm not sure I'd pull the trigger on it.

 

[BoysfanfromCanada]

Yeah. I wanna say Miami adjusted just before the snap and at least had a guy in the vicinity.

Even if they didn't though? Indy tried that last year against us and the dude flat out dropped it. Backed up that far, I'm not sure I'd pull the trigger on it.

Yeah, something I'd consider around the 50 yard line, not that close to your end with a punter not know for his arm.

 

[jrumann59]

Actually after it was noticed by the announcers the dolphins did sneak some out to the numbers.

 

[Bill Wooten]

Same thing happened to us twice last year. Harris covered both of them.

 

[Nightman]

Ok no one talked about this, but seems Dallas punt team doesnt know what to do when this
happens , and it is rare, but they need to spot it and get the ball snapped and try to get
the first down.

Or do they? If the guy drops the pass it is a disaster.
But the wide guys should be guys who can catch, and then they should spot and take advantage of stuff
like this instead of just yeah hes open but lets just kick it.

you can watch this play in the game replay thread, did the sc from that.
Miami wound up with the ball at their 42 after the punt.
The miami guy on the bottom end is the closest defender.

That right there should be a Hot Read anywhere on the field. The up back should get the snap and immediately throw it to the split end. We control the snap, so if he is that far away call it every time.

The up back should always be someone that can run or throw it when needed. Let's say it Lucky and he gets the snap and sprints for the edge. The split end can crack down and pick off the inside defender. BOOM. Big Play.

 

[Nightman]

Yeah. I wanna say Miami adjusted just before the snap and at least had a guy in the vicinity.

Even if they didn't though? Indy tried that last year against us and the dude flat out dropped it. Backed up that far, I'm not sure I'd pull the trigger on it.

Fortune favors the bold

 

[DandyDon52]

That right there should be a Hot Read anywhere on the field. The up back should get the snap and immediately throw it to the split end. We control the snap, so if he is that far away call it every time.

The up back should always be someone that can run or throw it when needed. Let's say it Lucky and he gets the snap and sprints for the edge. The split end can crack down and pick off the inside defender. BOOM. Big Play.

yes I like the snap to someone short who can throw and do it quick. The "gunners" should be someone who can catch good.
I agree doing it that backed up is risky, and wasnt needed in that game, but in a bigger game it might be the thing to do.

What I wonder is does our team even have options and practice for that scenario??

I would like to see it happen to NE and see if they have a option on it.

 

[JDSmith]

I would like to see it happen to NE and see if they have a option on it.

It looked like it was done on purpose, the Dolphins left the gunner uncovered at the beginning before number 30 drifted over just before the snap. So I wouldn't be surprised if they did it to NE as well. I don't have the all 22, but anyone who does could probably pull it up.

 

[khiladi]

He's 7th in net punting average.

It's pretty easy to get in a rhythm when Cassell and Weeden were always giving the ball back on 3 and outs..

 

[JohnsKey19]

So if Jones rushes the snap and air-mails a pass into the 3rd row, then what?????

 

[casmith07]

You guys remember this play in the first half?

Dallas punting and Miami left one of our gunners WIDE OPEN for a good 10 seconds before coming back to cover him. I remember we tried that on the Colts last year and the guy just dropped the ball or else we would have given up a big play.

Does our SP have a play or practice this option? If the gunner is wide open have the punter throw it to him for a completion and 1st down??? Do we practice this? I was yelling at the TV!! Sure we would have botched it but that was an OPPORTUNITY.

BTW I am not trying to nit pick in a win but rather asking if the team should have taken that chance?

The last thing I want is Chris Jones trying to throw a completion from 12-15 yards in the backfield to a guy who is not a regular receiver.