The first down would have been huge...but..(aside from having Sanchez on the field), I like that play far more 20 yards down field.....where the punt is not going to net you anything. (and of course there is the Hester factor...)
it's more than time to get over this play. bigger fish to fry now. i didn't agree with the call, but the play was actually there. part ballsy, part stupid. what else can you say about it?
I definitely would have preferred the fake punt where it's a direct snap to Brad Smith and let him pass or run, but I can see what they were trying to do. I just don't think it's as ridiculous as many think it was.
'Everyone'? Seriously? A fake punt pass play in their own territory to a receiver known best for running a single wing formation and returning kicks because he can't really play receiver? In the driving snow? If Brad Smith had caught that pass, I'd still call it a dumb playcall.
Didn't like the call but it should have been caught. 4 years later, Smith's hands still fucking suck.
Even if Smith had caught it, I still don't like the call. Way too risky giving the opponent a short field when we still had all the momentum and a relatively quiet crowd.
That Smith dropped it doesn't mean the fact that he was covered was irrelevant. Without coverage, you can throw a safer pass that doesn't need to worry about being defensed. I generally think fakes are stupid. Just run a play if you want to go for it on 4th down. We're more likely to convert that way than we are with an (obvious) fake.
Gotta agree with this 100%. Add in the score at the time and where we were on the field, just not the right play call IMO!
I'm thinking they didn't care if they knew. The idea was to sucker their ST unit into having to decide to defend a run or pass play. Great idea, just a shitty place and time to use it.
Here's the biggest problem I have with that play: it wasn't high risk, high reward. It was enormous risk, low reward. The reward was a first down, in our own territory. That's not a high reward; it's a minimal reward. The risk was obviously huge; that play was the turning point in the game. I will say this though: that play's inception, design and implementation is a direct contribution to the Bears' special teams by Devin Hester.
He dropped the pass but to say it wasn't well defended is not true. That was pretty good defense by Davis, and Sanchez placed it perfectly. It was pretty good defense because they knew what the play was. I'm not saying Brad Smith shouldn't have caught the ball, but if you're running that play, you sure as hell better make sure you're getting it. Having such close coverage, regardless of whether the ball was dropped, means that it was a bad play call. They were lucky enough that Smith had a chance to catch it. Sucks that he didn't, but just a dumb call. Not damned if you do, damned if you don't. Lucky and dumb if you do, and just dumb if you don't.
The big issue, aside the decision to do that itself, is why not just have B. Smith run that play? I mean isn't B. Smith the personal protector by default?! We know he can throw...
It turned out that it was a decent look, no pass defensed, and a drop by Smith but that's anything but inevitable: once the Bears sussed it out you lost the possibility of a big positive play and you ran the risk of a big negative play like a pick.
Starting at 10:40 in this video you can listen to Westhoff explain the fake punt in great detail. This was a very calculated move. http://www.newyorkjets.com/photos-a...nference/91936f72-756b-4094-a47f-4bb1407d5273
the fake play was actually a good call for several reasons: 1- we had our starting offense, including our entire o-line, running a 3 yard play against their speical teams unit. unless chi burns a TO, the play has to work 9 our of 10 times. 2- we make the 1st down and coninue our momentum into the 2nd half 3- we make the 1st down and chi has to play against the fake the rest of the game, changing emensly the hester factor.
