I simply do not accept this reasoning.
Q: Can you explain what happened on the fake punt Sunday when Bengals running back Brian Leonard gained 42 yards for a first down?
A: A lot of what happens in football in general and in the National Football League goes unexplained until after the fact because with 22 people on the field and all the action that takes place it’s pretty hard for the naked eye to follow. Here’s what occurred. They sent personnel on the field that spoke to a fake punt. They had about three-quarters of a yard to go. We sent our punt team on with instructions to play for the fake punt. We got aligned incorrectly and left a gap uncovered through which Brian Leonard ran. We were prepared for the play. We knew it was coming. We had the right personnel on the field. We just didn’t execute the way we were supposed to. More power to them for doing it. That’s exactly what occurred. There was no surprise. We were in a defense we thought could handle it. We didn’t execute the defense properly simply because we didn’t align properly. That’s going to happen. Those things happen due to pressure and time constraints. They made a good play and we didn’t.
That doesn’t make sense. James was sprinting back to the line. You would never chose to defense that play like that. You call timeout and force them to think about it. Then you come out of the time out in your base defense. The punt, even a 60 yard punt with no return is better than allowing the first down.
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