Anatomy of a Touchdown Week 13:
Albert Wilson Fake Punt to the House
Raise your hand if on Sunday you were busy having a conversation with your wife and your mom because it was a punt play and you figured the Kansas City Chiefs’ punt coverage team was going to do what they normally do and tackle the returner immediately upon catching the ball. Keep your hand up if after you realized the Chiefs oft-maligned — mostly by me, but whatever — wide receiver Albert Wilson was in the end zone, you were still confused as to exactly what happened. Finally, keep your hand up if after replaying the down on your DVR three or four times you finally figured out that not only did head coach Andy Reid call a fake punt, but somehow, Wilson managed to scamper 55 yards for a touchdown.
The first question I had after re-watching this play for the fifteenth time was, “who is this fat guy in red, and what have you done with Andy Reid?”
Let’s be honest, Reid is not the “roll-the-dice and go-for-it-on-fourth-down” kind of guy. The fact that he went for it on fourth down earlier in the game when the Chiefs scored their second touchdown to tie the game was crazy enough, considering a field goal kick would have been a sure thing. But this was insane. The Chiefs were on their own 45-yard line. A misstep here would have given the NFL’s No. 1 ranked offense the ball on an extremely short field. And then, to give the ball to Wilson, who has had trouble doing anything remotely close to “good football things” was a gamble on top of a gamble.
It was like putting a whole bunch of money on a side bet in craps. Some people call that a “sucker bet.” But when it hits, you’re eating prime rib and crab legs and Caesar’s Palace comps you the Presidential Suite. Well, in this case, there were buzzers and whistles, because Reid hit a big one on this play. Let’s see how it happened.
First, on Fourth down and two yards to go, the Chiefs lined up their offense to go for it. This was a direct ploy to sucker the Atlanta Falcons into taking a timeout. We know this because Reid said at his press conference on Monday “I was going to punt it.” When the reporter further elaborated the question asking if he would have taken the penalty on the play if the Falcons hadn’t jumped offsides, he simply said “yes.”
This tells us two things. First, what gamesmanship by Reid to force the Falcons to take a valuable second-half timeout during the first drive of the third quarter, and second that he listened to his Special Teams coordinator Dave Toub when he suggested they should go for it. It was perfect.
As the Chiefs lined up for the punt coming out of the timeout, there was nothing that seemed out of the ordinary from any other punt formation. And as stagnant as this offense has been at times this season, the Falcons had plenty of tape on the Chiefs’ punt formations.
Wilson lined up in the “personal protector” slot on the punt coverage formation. His “normal” role in this position was to be the final line of defense for any potential punt-blockers who may have been able to break through the line. But in this play, he was in perfect position to receive the short snap from long-snapper James Winchester and make the play.
So there’s a lot going on in this screen grab. First, if you hadn’t heard yet, Reid didn’t even have the chance to tell punter Dustin Colquitt that they were going to run a fake because he was already on the field. In fact, only about half of the punt team knew that a fake was coming. Obviously, Winchester and Wilson were in on the ruse, but I find it hilarious that Colquitt was standing back there expecting to get the snap the whole time.
What makes this play work starts with the blocking up front. The left side of the offensive line immediately crashed down and created an airtight seal, keeping all-comers away from the play. On the right side of the line, they had a bit more work. Because the rushers were a bit more spread out, they couldn’t just create a wall. But in addition to a perfect short snap, long-snapper Winchester immediately got his head up and created a sealing block. That’s a great move for a kid who has faced such tragedy in the past weeks.
Finally, as the play developed–and keep in mind, we’re talking about a fraction of a second–Wilson’s vision was perfect. The goal on the play was to gain a yard and a half, and Wilson started to rush straight ahead, where his vision was looking.
What I find very interesting, is it almost ended before it started. Wilson appeared to cut slightly to his right. Again, keep in mind this is less than a second after the previous screen grab. If he had continued moving that way, free safety Robenson Therezie (No. 27) would have stopped him short of the line of gain.
By the time this screen grab happens — less than a half a second after the previous grab — Chiefs special teams ace, D.J. Alexander (No. 57), crashed across the line and blocked Therezie, allowing Wilson to break free. Look at the lane that opened up in front of him. Barring penalty on the Chiefs, it would have easily been a first down. But that wasn’t going to be enough for Wilson.
Once Wilson was through the line, it was off to the races. Because the play worked so well — I think better than anyone expected — there wasn’t a single Falcon defender that could stop Wilson. The only Falcon who had a chance to save the touchdown was punt returner Eric Weems.
Because Wilson had enough time to make a decision and had the advantage of knowing where he wanted to go, he was able to cut to the left and create space away from Weems. This was helped by the fact that Weems was running straight at Wilson and therefore, wasn’t able to compensate by taking a better angle to him.
One thing I really appreciated in reviewing this play was the fact that none of the Chiefs gave up on the run until it was over and the official’s hands were raised indicating a touchdown. Not the least of those Chiefs not giving up was rookie wide receiver Demarcus Robinson. In fact, he nearly caught up with Wilson and provided a key block at the seven-yard line, ensuring the points went on the board. On the far side of the play, the linemen all ran down the field too, albeit a bit slower. They were all excited they were able to break their guy free as evidenced by the raised hands in triumph.
I loved this touchdown, not only because it was a huge, explosive play, but also because it was a critical score during a crucial point in the game, and it was so uncharacteristic of Reid’s coaching style. It also made me take back some of the bad things I’ve said about Albert Wilson during the first 12 games of the season. Here’s hoping for more plays like this in the games to come.
