Anatomy of a Touchdown Week 17:
Tyreek Hill is Really Fast
BREAKING NEWS: Tyreek Hill is really fast. Like really, really fast. Like Chris Collinsworth from NBC Sports calls him a blur, and I agree with him. I don’t say that very often.
Now back to your regularly scheduled article.
The Chiefs fifth-round draft pick did it again on Sunday, and in the process, sealed the fate of not only the Kansas City Chiefs, but also the San Diego (Super) Chargers and the Oakland Raiders in the process. Oh yeah, he also took Marcus Sherels’ lunch money. Who is Marcus Sherels you may ask?
Tyreek Hill’s TD Sunday cost Vikes DB Marcus Sherels $100k. Sherels had bonus for leading NFL in punt return avg. Hill’s TD moved him ahead.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 3, 2017
That’s fast. Like literally, Barry Allen had to have a chat with him about upsetting the timeline. Okay. Too far? Some of you may not have gotten that last joke. But, let’s just agree that he is fast.
On Sunday, Hill scored the 12th touchdown of his rookie career with his third punt return for a touchdown. He also was the first player since Dante “X-Factor” Hall to have a touchdown of over 60 yards four weeks in a row. He also owns the record for the longest punt return for a touchdown in Chiefs history.
He’s a rookie, guys. Here’s how he did it.
When Hill catches the ball he’s near the four or five-yard line. The crazy thing is, there were two members of the Chargers’ punt coverage team right next to him when he caught it. I don’t know if they thought he was going to field it, or had already called for the fair catch, but they were grossly out of position when it came to covering him.
One of the most impressive things about punt returns for touchdowns is how fast the members of the coverage team are moving. They are world-class athletes, literally running full speed in the opposite direction as the movement of the ball. It’s why so many injuries occur on these plays. It’s also why really good punt returners can use the coverage team’s momentum against them. It’s tough to stop moving in that direction when you’re moving that fast.
Using the Chargers’ momentum against them is exactly what helped Hill escape this tackle. The return was nearly over before it started, and lesser punt-returners would have been down at this spot — right around the eight-yard line. However, because Hill had already started his momentum towards the sideline, it allowed him to slip this tackle and keep moving.
Once Hill made it past the first group of would-be tacklers, he had to worry about the second tier of Chargers. While there were more Chargers than Chiefs in this area, they were already on the losing end of the deal because — again — momentum had served its purpose and they were already moving in the wrong direction. They had moved to the middle of the field where Hill caught the ball, but by the time they realized it, he was already moving to his right — where they weren’t — and preparing to hit the afterburners.
Much to the credit of the Chargers’ coverage team, they all gave chase even though I’m sure they’ve watched film of Hill returning kicks for scores — it’s not like there’s a shortage of it… he’s done it three other times this season — knowing full well they weren’t going to catch him. As Hill prepared to cross the 30-yard line, the one blue jersey in his way was the punter, rookie Drew Kaser. However, he wasn’t much of a threat because Hill had three of his own blockers in front of him. That’s where things got a bit tricky, as he was almost the victim of some friendly fire.
