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The Kickoff


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17 minutes ago, Buffalo Boy said:

    Don’t remember who we played in 90 but their team punted into the wind ( 40+) and it came right back to the punter. Craziest play I ever saw

I think you are thinking of the Cardinals game. I was there.

https://buffalonews.com/news/relentless-bills-blow-past-cardinals/article_dce392c5-f8ee-5ea2-9c50-6f16a28fedeb.html

Edited by Ethan in Portland
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16 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

I don't remember seeing something like that in pro games, but I was at a UConn game one time when one of the Grammaticas was playing for the opponent, and he was sending kickoffs 20 yards beyond the end zone.   In that game there were a couple of those comebacker punts that netted essentially nothing.   

 

One other thing about yesterday - the wind was blowing harder at the top of the stadium than on the ground.   The flags were whipping around all day, but the streamers on the goal posts sometimes settled down, although not for too long.   Hopkins got more air under that kickoff than usual, and it actually seemed to keep rising in the wind, almost like a round ball with backspin rises.   The flight was a little unusual - your brain was telling you the ball should be flying and starting to come down, but your eyes were telling you that it was still rising and stalling.  That's when McKenzie knew he was in trouble. 

 

I got the game right, punter wrong. It was Rich Camarillo for the Cardinals...he hit a 10 and 12 yard punt in this game punting into the wind...

 

November 11th, 1990, Bills - Cardinals...was able to find the Sports Extra coverage of the game on YouTube and cued it up to the relevant parts to see those 2 punts that literally travel backwards haha

 

 

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46 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Exactly right.  The front eight guys didn't see anything unusual.  The ball flew overhead as usual.   From the stands, however, after the ball had traveled maybe 25 yards, you could see that it was high and it was not going to carry.   McKenzie saw it too, but it was too late.  

 

You know how the Bills had to hold the ball on all the kickoffs?   I was thinking about how the special teams somehow adjust their kick coverage when they do that - the assignments of some guys change.   Well, in a wind like that, the assignments of some of the return team should change, too.  McKenzie needed help back there, instead of being a single guy.   He's been doing a good job, but he isn't Willie Mays.  

Was it? I just rewatched it couple of times, it seems to me that he was really close and maybe could've fielded it, but stopped in final moment and let it fall down.

 

I agree with your second section. However, isn't it like @Ethan in Portland suggest? I have no idea who is supposed to do what on kickoffs, but there are two guys in the final line before McKenzie and left one (Gilliam?) is much closer to the ball than McKenzie, he just never looks in the air. Shouldn't he be a good option for catching that? He was literally 3-5 yards from the place where ball touched the ground shortly before that.

Edited by No_Matter_What
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26 minutes ago, Big Turk said:

 

The one I remember the most is the Tom Tupa punt where he punted the ball and it literally got held up in the wind and started coming backwards. Think it netted like 6 yards or something...

 

Another interesting thing that I was told on a tour of the stadium is that the swirling winds are a result of there only being a single tunnel entrance instead of two which would balance it out. This causes all kinds of weird wind patterns on the field

Cool! Thx for sharing 

9 minutes ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Here are some highlights. The short punts are about 8 min into the video I think

Phoenix Cardinals? Did I just hear that right? 😳 

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5 minutes ago, BillsShredder83 said:

Cool! Thx for sharing 

Phoenix Cardinals? Did I just hear that right? 😳 

 

Yeah...they were the Phoenix Cardinals at that time...they switched to Arizona Cardinals I believe in the mid 90s sometime...

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3 minutes ago, Virgil said:

The ball hit an invisible wall in the sky and honestly looked like it started to come back towards the kicker.  It was bizarre.

 

The ball seemed to stop in mid-air. It landed at the 15 and bounced back to the 20 where a WFT guy grabbed it. McKenzie plowed into him to force a fumble and the ball went into the air and back to the 25 where Hopkins fielded it. 

 

 

 

Alternate angle replay starts at 26 seconds where you can actually see what happens.

 

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47 minutes ago, Buffalo Boy said:

    Don’t remember who we played in 90 but their team punted into the wind ( 40+) and it came right back to the punter. Craziest play I ever saw

Cardinals game? Think tasker caught a couple bombs where Kelly just lobbed the ball up the air and wind carried it iirc

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1 hour ago, RobbRiddicksTDLeap said:

Considering there was no replay of the turnover, I was curious if anyone knows exactly what happened on that play? I have no idea who made contact, and how no Bills player could get to the ball. 
 

Sorry Mods, if this is overblown on the board.

 

Lack of understanding of kickoff vs punt. Live ball. McKenzie has to bust his ass to catch it. He didn't. Then it's a free-for-all and the team that knew what they were doing got the ball.

 

At least this time they didn't lose the game because their Special Teams seem arrogant and underprepared.

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54 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

That is how it looked to me on TV. Just a freak play. I don't blame Isaiah at all. Combination of wind and that funny shaped ball y'all play with. :D 

I initially wondered if it was planned.  The next KO went to the same part of the field and (I believe) carried into the end zone.   Still, though, the wind was significant, and it definitely would have pushed the ball away from McKenzie on that KO.  So I’m with you - probably just one of those things, and an instance in which we’d like Taiwan Jones to be a little more aware.    

8 minutes ago, WhoTom said:

Looked like McKenzie ran for it but then hesitated. I think he could have called for a fair catch, kept running, and made the catch at the 15-yard line.

 

 

He did.  He hit the brakes.  Watching it live in the stadium I didn’t think he could get there and probably worried about the ball bouncing over his head. 

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13 minutes ago, SectionC3 said:

 

He did.  He hit the brakes.  Watching it live in the stadium I didn’t think he could get there and probably worried about the ball bouncing over his head. 

 

You're allowed to have two return men back. It may actually be advised in a strong kicking headwind. Unfortunately every NFL team does exactly the same thing every time on these seemingly forgetable plays until they get burned.

Edited by pocoboy
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25 minutes ago, WhoTom said:

Looked like McKenzie ran for it but then hesitated. I think he could have called for a fair catch, kept running, and made the catch at the 15-yard line.

 

 

This. On a kickoff there’s no option to let it bounce, if you think it’s gonna be close you wave the hand for fair catch and try for it because a muff is no different than letting it hit the turf in that situation, plus the FC gives protection so if they do run into you it’s a penalty and they won’t get the ball anyway. 
 

That’s coaching, he needs to know that going in.

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