Earthquake Enyart
11-17-2004, 12:29 PM
From TMQ on nfl.com
A Brief History of the Preposterous Punt
On Nov. 3, 2002, trailing defending champion New England by 10 points, the Bills faced fourth-and-2 on the Patriots 32. Did they go for it? Attempt a field goal to close the deficit to one score? Buffalo punted from the New England 32! Emboldened by the mincing, fraidy-cat call, New England marched the length of the field for a touchdown that turned the contest into a blowout. That was almost exactly two years ago. To the point of the Preposterous Punt, Buffalo was 5-3 and the second-highest scoring team in the league. Since then, the Bills have gone 12-21 and consistently been at or near the bottom in scoring. The extremely weird Bills habit of punting inside the opponent's 40 has continued from the reign of the tastefully named Gregg Williams to the current stewardship of the serious pun potential Mike Mularkey. For instance, earlier this season, Buffalo punted from the Jersey/B 37 in a game the Bills went on to lose by two points. No wonder the Bills are the third-lowest scoring club in the league -- it's hard to ring up points when you don't even try to score.
Never underestimate the extent to which NFL teams do, in fact, respond to the messages coaches send them. By punting in opposition territory, two consecutive Buffalo coaches have sent the message that they think their players are incapable of picking up yards in pressure situations. Inside the opponent's 40 -- the Maroon Zone -- is where a team must convert mere possessions into scoring opportunities. In this part of the field, teams may actually be better off going for it and failing than launching a mincing fraidy-cat punt. Going for it sends the message that the coach is challenging his players to win the game, a message that redounds even if the attempt fails. Punting sends the message that the coach has no confidence in his players, or that the coach is not totally committed to winning, an equally bad message.
To the moment of the Preposterous Punt on Sunday, the Buffalo offense had staged a brisk opening drive, gaining 45 yards. On the next possession, after a decent drive of 23 yards, the Bills again punted inside New England territory, this time on fourth-and-7 from the Patriots 44. Realizing their coach had no confidence in them and was not totally committed to winning the game, Buffalo offensive players visibly gave up at this point, gaining only 72 yards the rest of the game. To top off the fiasco, trailing 23-0 late in the third quarter, the Bills faced fourth-and-2 from their own 31. Coaches sent in the punting unit. TMQ thought: You're 3-5, you're down by 23 points to the defending champions, what do you have to lose! What the Buffalo players surely thought was -- the coaching staff has quit on this game, so why shouldn't we?
As for Bledsoe, for two seasons this once-magnificent passer has meekly trotted off the field, head hanging low, as coaches send in the punting unit in opposition territory. If Green Bay coaches did the same to Brett Favre, there would be a detonation so powerful it would light up screens at the National Earthquake Information Center. As the Buffalo offense has sputtered under two different coaches, Bledsoe has never asserted himself to demand that the Bills play to win instead of playing not to lose; he has meekly hung his head low during embarrassment after embarrassment. Yesterday, Ron Borges of the Boston Globe called Bledsoe "a sad imitation of what he once was." No one questions that Bledsoe is giving it all he's got. He just seems to have nothing left to give.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/7893888
A Brief History of the Preposterous Punt
On Nov. 3, 2002, trailing defending champion New England by 10 points, the Bills faced fourth-and-2 on the Patriots 32. Did they go for it? Attempt a field goal to close the deficit to one score? Buffalo punted from the New England 32! Emboldened by the mincing, fraidy-cat call, New England marched the length of the field for a touchdown that turned the contest into a blowout. That was almost exactly two years ago. To the point of the Preposterous Punt, Buffalo was 5-3 and the second-highest scoring team in the league. Since then, the Bills have gone 12-21 and consistently been at or near the bottom in scoring. The extremely weird Bills habit of punting inside the opponent's 40 has continued from the reign of the tastefully named Gregg Williams to the current stewardship of the serious pun potential Mike Mularkey. For instance, earlier this season, Buffalo punted from the Jersey/B 37 in a game the Bills went on to lose by two points. No wonder the Bills are the third-lowest scoring club in the league -- it's hard to ring up points when you don't even try to score.
Never underestimate the extent to which NFL teams do, in fact, respond to the messages coaches send them. By punting in opposition territory, two consecutive Buffalo coaches have sent the message that they think their players are incapable of picking up yards in pressure situations. Inside the opponent's 40 -- the Maroon Zone -- is where a team must convert mere possessions into scoring opportunities. In this part of the field, teams may actually be better off going for it and failing than launching a mincing fraidy-cat punt. Going for it sends the message that the coach is challenging his players to win the game, a message that redounds even if the attempt fails. Punting sends the message that the coach has no confidence in his players, or that the coach is not totally committed to winning, an equally bad message.
To the moment of the Preposterous Punt on Sunday, the Buffalo offense had staged a brisk opening drive, gaining 45 yards. On the next possession, after a decent drive of 23 yards, the Bills again punted inside New England territory, this time on fourth-and-7 from the Patriots 44. Realizing their coach had no confidence in them and was not totally committed to winning the game, Buffalo offensive players visibly gave up at this point, gaining only 72 yards the rest of the game. To top off the fiasco, trailing 23-0 late in the third quarter, the Bills faced fourth-and-2 from their own 31. Coaches sent in the punting unit. TMQ thought: You're 3-5, you're down by 23 points to the defending champions, what do you have to lose! What the Buffalo players surely thought was -- the coaching staff has quit on this game, so why shouldn't we?
As for Bledsoe, for two seasons this once-magnificent passer has meekly trotted off the field, head hanging low, as coaches send in the punting unit in opposition territory. If Green Bay coaches did the same to Brett Favre, there would be a detonation so powerful it would light up screens at the National Earthquake Information Center. As the Buffalo offense has sputtered under two different coaches, Bledsoe has never asserted himself to demand that the Bills play to win instead of playing not to lose; he has meekly hung his head low during embarrassment after embarrassment. Yesterday, Ron Borges of the Boston Globe called Bledsoe "a sad imitation of what he once was." No one questions that Bledsoe is giving it all he's got. He just seems to have nothing left to give.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/7893888