The Baltimore Ravens' fake punt that turned into a pivotal 15-yard completion during Sunday’s win caught the Washington Football Team by surprise, but it wasn’t a new or complicated play call. Coach John Harbaugh and special teams coordinator Chris Horton didn’t concoct trickery for that exact moment against that exact opponent.
Rather, the play worked because punter Sam Koch is an accurate passer and the play design, while simple, is not easy to stop.
“It’s a really hard one to defend,” said Harbaugh, a former special teams coach. “So that one really is an execution play.”
In the video above, notice that both of the Ravens' gunners near each sideline are facing a single defender. The one-on-one coverage made the fake an option.
On a typical punt, those two Baltimore gunners would hustle down the field and try to get in position to down the ball near the goal line. So Washington’s corners were prepared to sprint stride-for-stride with them to impede their path to the ball. When the punt team is working with a short field, the return team faces extra urgency to avoid getting pinned deep in its own territory.
Washington cornerback Fabian Moreau (No. 25) lined up across from Ravens wide receiver Miles Boykin (No. 80) in the case, as you can see on the bottom of the video to Koch’s right. As soon as Koch calls for the snap, Boykin takes off downfield and Moreau breaks into a full sprint alongside him.
Unlike on a normal offensive snap, Moreau had no safety help over the top and didn’t anticipate Boykin breaking back to the ball. When Boykin stopped and turned toward Koch, Moreau’s momentum kept carrying him forward. Boykin was wide open right at the first-down line and Koch delivered an on-target strike to convert the fourth-and-9.
“Hopefully you catch the corner thinking more about keeping the gunner off the pooch punt,” Harbaugh said. “That’s a tough job for that corner to do. So if he’s running hard to do that, sometimes you can throw that stop route right in there at the sticks.”
Baltimore’s play worked to perfection, and the team scored a touchdown three snaps later to extend the lead from seven points to 14.
Koch and Boykin changed the complexion of the game. And Harbaugh said he wouldn’t feel comfortable green-lighting that fourth-down call if he didn’t know his players could convert. Koch’s 7-for-7 as a passer in his career.
“It’s hard to do if you don’t think you’re going to be able to throw it and catch it,” Harbaugh said. “And timing’s really important. Sam threw that thing before Miles had even turned around.”
A variety of factors go into the decision of when to break out a fake punt. Harbaugh takes into account the chances of his team catching an opponent off guard and considers whether using a trick play one week will limit his options in the future.
The Ravens often enter games with multiple fake punt designs prepared for certain situations, Harbaugh said.
And the one the team used Sunday’s was a staple of sorts. It’s a play the Ravens feel they’ve mastered, and even if some teams aren’t capable of running it, Harbaugh is happy to call on Koch to make a strong throw in an important moment.
“He’s just so good at it,” Harbaugh said. “He’s clutch as can be. And then Miles, he’s a young guy, to step in that situation and make that play was tremendous.”
Aaron Kasinitz covers the Baltimore Ravens for PennLive and can be reached at akasinitz@pennlive.com or on Twitter @AaronKazreports. Follow PennLive’s Ravens coverage on Facebook and Youtube.
The Link LonkOctober 06, 2020 at 05:49PM
https://www.pennlive.com/baltimore-ravens/2020/10/why-baltimore-ravens-fake-punt-play-design-is-a-really-hard-one-to-defend.html
Why Baltimore Ravens’ fake punt play design is a ‘really hard one to defend’ - PennLive
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