Bill Belichick opens up... (press conference question re: punting)

[luuked]

Bumping this with this paragraph from a new MMQB piece [1] that gives additional insight via Zoltan Mesko why BB might like left footed punters so much:

In our quest for answers about the left-footed tradition in New England, Mesko has an intriguing theory. In Gillette Stadium, which opened in 2002, there is a dominant wind pattern. It comes in through the open end of the stadium, and blows across the field on the diagonal, from right to left. In other words, if you are facing the open end, and the goalposts are at 12 o’clock, the wind blows toward 8 o’clock. Belichick himself acknowledged this in November of Gillette’s inaugural season: “[The wind] runs part of the way down the field at the open end, at the lighthouse end, but then it seems to quarter more toward from the home bench [the right side of the field, if you’re facing the open end] to the visiting bench.”

Going this direction challenges punters and kickers, because the wind is in your face. But lefties have an important advantage: That right-to-left current accelerates the ball’s counterclockwise rotation, which means greater distance. In Week 17, for example, Allen hit a beautiful 52-yard punt into the wind in this direction, pinning the Jets at their own 14-yard line.

Sounds like something BB and Ernie would consider.. chess and checkers my friends..

There is more about this theory in the article but I didnt want to steal all their clicks by pasting it all here even though it is ****ing MMQB.

[1] The rise of the lefty punter in the NFL