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Eagles’ ST coordinator gives the inside scoop on the fake punt vs. Cowboys originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Not much went right in the Eagles’ 33-13 loss to the Cowboys on Sunday night in Dallas. The Eagles were overwhelmed on offense and defense in the blowout loss to their biggest division rival.
But at least special teams showed up!
And the fake punt Michael Clay’s unit pulled off early in the second quarter was a thing of beauty.
“It was just something we thought about maybe a few weeks back,” Clay said on Wednesday. “Just something to keep in our back pocket in case the situation came to fruition. Kudos to the guys. When something like that is up, it’s all on the guys executing it well and feeling confident in it. They did a really good job over the last however long we have been working on that to get the old OK.”
Clay got the OK on a 4th-and-2 on the second play of the second quarter. The Eagles were already down 10-0 in the game so the fake did give off a sense of desperation but, hey, the Eagles were desperate at that time.
Punter Braden Mann took the long snap cleanly from Rick Lovato and as he stepped into what looked like a punt, he smoothly flipped his hips and hit a wide open Olamide Zaccheaus, who scampered loose for a huge gain of 28 yards. The Eagles capped the drive with a 52-yard field goal to finally get on the board.
Clay mentioned that the Eagles got a little extra time to think about the possibility of running the fake punt because the second quarter had just begun. As the teams flipped sides, the Eagles were obviously hoping they’d be able to convert on 3rd-and-2 but if they didn’t … they were ready.
“We just had it in our back pocket that we were able to say, ‘Hey, if something bad does happen, we have this if you feel confident with it, we feel good with it,’” Clay explained. “And just, again, the communication here has been outstanding between everybody from top down.
“It was nothing that we were…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/eagles-st-coordinator-gives-inside-120000593.html
Author : NBC Sports Philadelphia
Publish date : 2023-12-14 12:00:00
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