Fencer
Pro Bowl Player
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
- Messages
- 14,293
- Reaction score
- 3,986
http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story...25/ne-patriots-good-lucky-beat-denver-broncos
Awesomely detailed discussion.
Awesomely detailed discussion.
So many things went wrong on that play for the Broncos. First of all, I think a poor coaching decision was made. They decided to double vice the punt team corners late from a stack alignment. A double vice is when you use two players to double team the gunners on the punt team. The double team came from the players aligned in the box from a stack alignment. A stack alignment being basically lined up as linebackers. When you do that, and the gunners are able to get downfield, it causes a traffic problem. There are special-teams coaches in the NFL that don't believe in the double vice, aligned or late from the stack alignment, when it's a punt from midfield. Because the odds of the punt having to be caught inside the 20 yard line are great, and if you bring traffic problems into that situation, the chances of ball-handling errors are higher.
Usually, the vice players are coached that once you get to the 20-yard line you must start to abort. I've been on every single special-teams unit -- throughout college and every year in my NFL career. I've never played gunner, but when you play the inside positions, you learn the rules of every position. Once those vice players reach the 20-yard line, especially the 15-yard line, you must veer off to the sideline. You just don't know where the ball is being fielded, especially when in a double vice situation because you're focused on the man more than the ball. If the gunners were single-teamed, that gives the vice player more space to get his head around and see where the returner is (because you're not worried about double-teaming or working with another player). This is also why some special-teams coaches around the league would rather rush at midfield. Then you would have single vice players on the edges and you would definitely take the option of returning the punt away because the front players wouldn't be blocked as well (especially with the wind to your back). The Patriots punted from the 43 and with the wind at their back, so it was definitely a punt that was going to be fielded around the 15 or so.
So back to your question, could Wes have fielded the ball? It was possible, but with that wind, it would have made it a difficult catch. Should Tony Carter have been there in the first place? In my opinion, no. Once he reached the 20, he should have veered off, away from the returner. These decisions have to be made very quickly. If you're a Broncos follower, it's a tough way to lose. But this isn't the first time it's happened to a team. This is why you see special-teams coaches often decide to rush in that situation, when the opponent is punting near midfield. The idea is to eliminate as much traffic as possible when the punt is fielded around the 10-yard line.
