I'm confused. I honestly don't know what to believe. The one against Miami totally looked like a botched snap, and did NOT look designed. But it was never really conclusively addressed, and the announcers kept referring to the "two fake punts," even though it seemed certain that the first one was not a designed fake. Then today, it honestly looked like Weatherford took off on his own. Why? Well first, because the Jets were gunning down the field, and none of them seemed aware of what was happening. But even more telling was Westhoff's reaction. He looked furious, and grabbed Weatherford and hissed at him. But if Weatherford was really going on his own... WTF is he thinking??? What the hell is going on here? Thank God all these plays are working, but I'd like some definite answers. Would some beat writer please do a more thorough investigation?
it looked like he was sneaking around on the field for a little bit, couldnt help but laugh uncontrollably
Weatherford is an athlete, not just a kicker I read - I think at nj.com - that Weatherford ran track along with playing football in college. Take a look: http://www.fightingillini.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/weatherford_steve00.html College: During the 2004 track and field season, he placed fifth in the heptathlon at Big Ten Indoors ... Competed at Drake Relays in the decathlon, placing sixth with 6,242 points. Took sixth at the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships in the heptathlon. Competed for the Illinois track team, taking third in the heptathlon at the Big Ten Indoor Championships ... Set the school heptathlon record with 5,365 points. High School: Named to the All-State track team three times ... Set a junior Olympic record in the 4x800 meters ... Also set school record in the 300-meter hurdles (39.34). FWIW, he also kicked off in college: Kicked 35 kickoffs with 24 touchbacks...Five touchbacks came against Rutgers...Averaged 60.9 yards per kickoff.
I watched the play again, it wasn't a designed fake in my opinion. All of our blockers released down field as they would on a regular punt coverage. Weatherford must have had the green light from what they saw on film, one of those "if you see the Raiders do this, then go ahead and run it" type thing. I don't want to call someone out for calling me an idiot, but it most likely was not a "called" fake. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=albfUKWLfI8&feature=player_embedded#[/youtube]
I'm pretty sure after the game Rex said it was a called fake. Also, the reason why the jets blockers ran down field is because thats what the fake called for...if they tried to block and hold, like blocking for a run, it would be very obvious it was fake, just my opinion.
That part makes sense, but our blockers looked like the didn't really know what was going on, especially when they saw the return man start running up. And Westoff looked pretty pissed at Weatherford.
agreed. the blockers never even looked back I think if they didn't know it was coming they would've caught on sooner and looked back for the ball.
Its a designed play. There was no problem with snap. Weatherford simply faked it and they opened a hole in the middle of the LOS. There are a couple of wall off blocks that opened that hole up. Of course players ran down the field as if it was a kick, thats the fake part. Its not much of a fake if you can tell its a fake. Also if you think Weatherford is just improvising and doing what he feels like out there...think again. Just my opinion.
Also, you need to consider that the Raiders didn't even notice it, so they reacted like it was a normal punt. The Jets blockers only began to look confused and turn around when they saw the returner start running back and some of the other Raiders start turning around
Some of the jets blockers were blocking out the middle. not all of them run down the field. Woodhead & Dearth are blocking for Weatherford. I think its just a really good fake punt that took advantage of the Raiders lax special teams. Westhoff is a witch.
I'm not saying he improvised from re-watching the play. What I'm saying is that they drew this up during the week and told Weatherford- if you see this happen, you can tuck it in and run with it. If you watch Weatherford during his punts, you will notice he takes a bit longer than most punters to get the football off. It might only be a split second, but it is definitely noticeable. I'm not sure if this is him checking out the coverage to see if there is a spot to run a play like this, or if he just needs a longer time to handle the ball. If you noticed after this play, Westoff gave Weatherford an earful and by the time our offense was on the field, Weatheford was practicing catching snaps on the sidelines. I agree there is nothing wrong with the snap, but the snap in OT against Buffalo appeared to be okay as well. I feel like he has the "green light" to run these fakes from Mike Westoff, and he is the type of guy who likes to call his own card.
On a punt you want to block out of the middle, as it makes a longer path to block the punt. And when you are backed up towards your goal line the big guys don't release down field until after the punt.
Whatever it was...wow! That was my first time seeing that and he sold the shit out of that, designed or not. Not one guy on the field, hell, even our own guys, seemed to recognize what was going on until it was a first down. Doesn't make up for the botched snap from last week, but it helps forget a little bit.
