 Bolden's punt block helped set up Gronkowski's first touchdown Sunday night. (USA TODAY Images) |
Patriots running back Brandon Bolden has become quite a player on special teams for New England, and it appears that his work in the film room is starting to pay off.
According to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald, Bolden's punt block Sunday night stemmed from a tendency that he spotted on film by Chargers Mike Windt, which allowed him to catch the timing off the snap and helped set up an opportunity for him to make a play.
"We've been working on timing the snap because we knew what kind of snapper we had," Bolden told the newspaper. "He likes to move the ball. He likes to look up and give you a little false movement idea. But we timed it up perfectly. I actually got off right as he snapped the ball, got off before he got back to where he wanted to block me, got up under (Donald Brown). And as I'm coming up under him, I just remembered looking down and was like, 'Oh, there's (Scifres') leg. There's the ball. There's my hands.' And I looked up and the ball was on the sideline. I realized I blocked it, but I didn't realize it went way to the sideline."
Bolden's block ended up with an unfortunate injury to Chargers punter Mike Scifres, who got spun around and landed awkwardly on his shoulder and knocked him out of the game. That lead to the Chargers being forced to turn to kicker Nick Novak, who ended up playing fairly well in his absence.
The block ended up being a key play in the game as it gave the Patriots the football at the Chargers' 25-yard line. Four plays later, Tom Brady found Rob Gronkowski in the endzone for a touchdown, which at the time pulled the Patriots to within a point at 14-13 with three minutes left in the first half.
The bad news for Scifres is according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the team fears the punter may have fractured his collarbone. At the time the injury took the fun away from Bolden's first career punt block, and he was more concerned about the well-being of Scifres who after the play was down on the turf for a while.
"It wasn't an exciting moment for me anymore," Bolden told the Herald when he realized the injury occurred. "My first blocked NFL punt, I was very excited at first, and when I looked back and saw when they had to bring the cart on the field, it was a totally different story. All that excitement went out the window. I had to go out there and check on him and tell him it was nothing intentional. I was not trying to hurt him."
The play was big for the team and one his teammates were pleased that he made because it helped give the Patriots some momentum, which got them going enough to eventually come away with a win.
"Special teams can be a big momentum shifter for any team," said Bolden. "For this team it was that boost we needed, and when that happened everything picked up. That momentum shifted and we rode that wave, so I think we did a good job offensively and defensively after that play to stay in the ball game."
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