Fake Punt

[Guest r_to_the_izzo]

And now to the punt. Bad blocking or not, that was an idiotic call. 4th and 4 from your 25 and you want your punter to run it for a first? While your D was shut down all day? CJL prooved once again his game changing decision making is still lame.

[windbane]

Ean does not need a break.  Before the game tonight he still had one of the highest punt return averages in the nation.  I would let him field the ball inside the 10 every time, but I dispute the fact that he's done it 5 times, because he hasnt.  The last game he didnt even return punts because he was injured.  What needs to change is he should be doing kickoff returns too.  The guy is obviously our best playmaker and has the best ability to avoid tackles on the team.

He muffed 1 that seemed to be wind, he made a bad decision and tried to run that other punt out.  so what, 2 mistakes.  he's looked calm and collected before this game where it seemed like everyone was making mistakes.  

on kickoffs i never get excited because the guys returning the kicks dont have the same ability to avoid people as randolph does, but every time randolph gets the ball its exciting.  let the guy field whatever he wants if you ask me.

as for taurus, i dont care if he got hit by 10 people that fumble was his fault or it wasnt a catch to begin with.

[windbane]

And now to the punt. Bad blocking or not, that was an idiotic call. 4th and 4 from your 25 and you want your punter to run it for a first? While your D was shut down all day? CJL prooved once again his game changing decision making is still lame.

D wasnt shut down all day, but they were good.  Still, at that point you need 2 scores and the offense needs to stay on the field to try to get a rythm going.  that block wasnt exactly hard to spot, so i think that has a lot to do with it.  

D can be shutdown all it wants but its usually the offense that needs to score.  time was ticking and we needed 2 scores and it works if mompremier even attempts that block.

[smazza]

good call, terrible execution on that block.  teachey had the whole field except for that 1 guy that tackled him that mompremier (#53) ran right past.  

"And now to the punt. Bad blocking or not, that was an idiotic call. 4th and 4 from your 25 and you want your punter to run it for a first? While your D was shut down all day? CJL prooved once again his game changing decision making is still lame."

POST  BY RIZZO SAYS IT ALL

i venture to say  that you can watch football for 50 years and you will never see a worse paly call given the score and position on the field

oh well,forget about it and prepare for pitt

a victory against pitt will wash away cinncy bad taste

[MikeG]

windbane-- Taurus definitely made that catch-- he took three steps after hauling it in before he got blownup by the three Cinci players. One of them punched that ball out of there. That would have been hard for pretty much anyone to hang onto-- good defensive play by Cinci imo-- let's give them some credit for that much.

[BullAdrian]

I dont know if you think #53 missed a block? what if #53 thought punter was right behind him since punter didnt catch a ball very well and almost tripped down himself.  I think #53 didn't realize punter was that far behind him.

IMO, it is design play is good but it was wrong time and wrong place!

[MikeG]

I don't know for sure if that was called from the sideline either. It could have been an audible made by the upback. They are coached to make those types of calls based on how the defense is aligned. Teachey kind of bumbled the ball then stumbled. That took the play off track from the start. But regardless of performance-- it was very risky.

Either way-- hard to argue it wasn't a bad call imo-- we weren't in that desparate of a situation to need a trick play right then. It is easy to say that now since hindsight is 20/20. I just don't see the risk/reward being worth it in that situation.

[Sunil]

I couldn't believe that call by the coaching staff. I'm not opposed to fake punts, but there were several other chances to call that play in the second half....when we were at the least in the middle of the field. Sure he came close, but I would have just as well lined up for another offensive play on on 4th down. I've been a CJL supporter...but you gotta call it like it is. He blew that call.

[mutt]

I dunno... the whole thing was screwed up, But I'm not opposed to risk taking. Personally I think we should do more. If they woulda pulled it off right and won the matchup, you clowns would be saying Leavitt looked like a friggin genius. Unfortunately we looked like crap the entire night, so get used to it, and let's get ready to whoop pitt.

[Triple B]

If they woulda pulled it off right and won the matchup, you clowns would be saying Leavitt looked like a friggin genius.

I seriously doubt that. They ***** about cjl whether we win or lose ... They just don't sound as stupid when we lose. In almost all cases, it's not a matter of a bad play being called, it's the execution.