Fisher has long history of special teams trickery --PD

[RamBill]

Fisher has long history of special teams trickery
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_48655697-3d54-563a-babc-16ec9018c66d.html

Jeff Fisher doesn’t know where he developed his keen interest in special teams.

“The exciting part about special teams is you get to work with both sides of the ball,” Fisher said. “There’s an opportunity for some creativity.”

Nor does he know where he developed his love for special teams trickery.

“I don’t know the origin,” Fisher said. “If you have the reputation that you’re fearless from the standpoint of making those calls, then you’re going to be able to dictate some things. That’s what we try to do, dictate with respect to special teams, particularly your punt team.”

Fisher reached into his bag of tricks twice Sunday, allowing the Rams to steal a victory from the defending Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks. Without the decoy punt return for a touchdown on the play known as “Mountaineer,” or a daring fake punt for a first down late in the fourth quarter, the Rams don’t defeat Seattle 28-26.

It was enough to put a 75-yard kickoff return by Benny Cunningham — the Rams’ longest in four years — into the oh-by-the way category.

Stedman Bailey’s 90-yard “Mountainer” punt return down the left sideline caught the Seahawks with their guard down. They were too busy paying attention to Tavon Austin on the right sideline faking as if he were fielding the punt.

If there were an Academy Award for best special teams acting in a supporting role, it would go hands down to Austin.

“If that’s what they’re saying, then I’m up for it,” Austin said.

And there was more to the trickery than just Austin’s acting job.

“There’s a rumor that one of our players, as they were running down the field, was yelling ‘Right! Right! Right!’” Fisher said, tongue-in-cheek.

Another attempt, obviously, to fool the Seahawks as to the direction of the football.

The day’s capper came when punter Johnny Hekker completed an 18-yard pass to Cunningham on the fake punt with less than 3 minutes to play. No mean feat considering it was fourth and 3 from the St. Louis 18 at the time.

Those two plays made the Rams the talk of the NFL on Monday.

In Arizona, for example, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians told local reporters that it took a lot of nerve for Fisher to call the fake punt in that situation. Fisher said he heard directly from several friends and colleagues around the league.

“I got a lot of notes, texts, and things like that,” Fisher said. “It’s not me — (the players) executed. At the end of the day you want to give yourself a chance to win. In my mind, the best chance we had to win the football game was to execute that play.”

Fisher has a long history of special teams deceit. From 1995-2005 as head coach of the Houston Oilers-Tennessee Titans, Fisher had his punters throw 16 passes. Fifteen of those tosses came from Craig Hentrich (Alton-Marquette HS).

And of course, there was one of the most famous special teams trick plays in NFL history, the Music City Miracle. It sparked the Titans’ playoff run in 1999 that led all the way to Super Bowl XXXIV against Dick Vermeil’s Rams.

In a wild-card playoff game with Buffalo, Frank Wycheck threw a lateral pass to Kevin Dyson after taking a Buffalo kickoff. Dyson raced 75 yards in the closing seconds for a touchdown, giving Tennessee a 22-16 victory.

When Fisher took the Rams job in 2012, he didn’t leave his special teams trickeration in Nashville. Hekker’s pass to Cunningham was his fifth in 38 games with the Rams. He went three for three for 42 yards as a rookie in 2012, throwing for more yards that year than Tim Tebow.

Two of those completions came on fake punts in the team’s 24-24 overtime tie in San Francisco. Another came on a fake field goal when Hekker — the holder for place-kicker Greg Zuerlein — stood up after taking the snap and tossed a TD pass to Danny Amendola, who sneaked over toward the Rams’ sideline undetected by Seattle. Yes, the Seahawks were snookered in that game, so shame on Pete Carroll ‘s teams for getting fooled again Sunday.

The Rams were ready to try a fake punt in the Monday night loss to San Francisco, when quarterback Austin Davis — yes, Davis — was flanked out in a gunner position. But the 49ers saw what was happening and the Rams ended up taking a delay of game.

Hekker was a quarterback in high school, and when the Rams signed him to a free-agent contract after the 2012 draft, his throwing ability factored into the decision.

“I think that if you have a preference, you would prefer to have a guy that could do things like that — that can throw — because he’s a weapon,” Fisher said. “He can take advantage of things. His arm had a lot to do with the record-setting performance that he had last year, that our punt team had last year. Because as you get ‘punt safe’ teams and eight-man boxes defending different throws, our gunners go down and make plays.”

Hekker and the Rams set an NFL record for net punting average in 2013 at 44.2 yards.

Of course, the fakes don’t always work. Hekker misfired last season on a fake punt in Dallas. Intended receiver Bailey was open on the play, but the throw was off-target because a Cowboys defender broke through to pressure Hekker.

Later in the 2013 season, up-back Matt Giordano took the snap on a fake punt, but his intended pitch to Bailey on a reverse was thwarted by penetration by the 49ers’ Anthony Dixon. Taking over deep in St. Louis territory, San Francisco scored a victory-clinching TD on the next play in a 23-13 game.

Make no mistake, a setback here and there won’t prevent Fisher and special teams coordinator John Fassel from trying. And it’s not as if they emptied their bag of tricks Sunday against Seattle.

“No. If the opportunity’s there, that’s how we are,” Fisher said. “That’s what we do.”

 

[RamBill]

Fisher keeps finding ways to trick opponents

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...itzRss&utm_campaign=usatodaycomnfl-topstories

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Everyone is well-aware of Jeff Fisher's affinity for trick plays. He really knows how to pick his spots.

"If we need them, if the opportunity is there, that's who we are," Fisher said Monday. "That's what we do."

Johnny Hekker's fake punt that helped the St. Louis Rams play keep-away and finish off the Seattle Seahawks was a mixture of design, deception and derring-do. The call caught Rams players by surprise, too, until special teams captain Chase Reynolds said, 'Yeah, it's real! Let's do it!"

They got over the shock, then put one over on the Super Bowl champions on fourth-and-3 from the Rams 18 and less than three minutes to go when Hekker hit up back Benny Cunningham for 18 yards.

"We're so prepared, it's scary," Hekker said. "There was no off call. It was go time. We were ready."

Fisher's rationale was simple. That was the only way the Rams could win.

Russell Wilson had been nearly unstoppable, becoming the first NFL quarterback to pass for 300 yards and run for 100 yards, and the Seahawks would have had plenty of time.

Seattle had a whopping advantage in total yards, 463 to 272, but lost where it count. Maybe, even from the 18, they should have known.

"That's the kind of team they are," Seahawks defensive back Richard Sherman said. "Jeff Fisher is a gambling coach and he takes them at different times in a game. It was a good play and a good call."

That was the fifth time in three seasons Fisher has relied on his punter's arm instead of his leg. Hekker is 4 for 5 for 60 yards and in 2012 duped the Seahawks for the go-ahead touchdown pass on a fake field goal when Danny Amendola dawdled leaving the field and lined up all alone near the sideline.

"Sure, there's a couple of butterflies definitely," Hekker said. "We work on every situation possible. We're ready when the time comes."

Stedman Bailey's 90-yard punt return got a massive assist from Tavon Austin, who staggered and then tumbled to the turf while preparing to make a phantom catch on the opposite sideline. Fisher noted with a smile that other special teamers yelled "Right! Right!" to further confuse the Seahawks and draw them toward Austin.

Don't forget Fisher's masterpiece of deception. The Music City Miracle, the lateral pass from Frank Wycheck to Kevin Dyson that kept the Titans alive in the 2000 postseason for a Super Bowl matchup against the Rams, who beat them 23-16.

"If you have the reputation that you're fearless from the standpoint of making those calls, you're going to be able to dictate some things," Fisher said. "That's what we try to do."

Austin scored on a reverse last season, a play the Titans nearly clicked on under Fisher when Adam Jones was a rookie. Fisher readily recalls the play was nullified because Brad Hopkins was whistled for holding. He also scored on a 98-yard punt return against Indianapolis last year, waving everybody away and then fielding the ball at the last instant on the sideline.

That Hekker was a high school quarterback with a power arm factored into the Rams decision to sign him as an undrafted free agent out of Oregon State. He led the NFL in net punting last year, perhaps partly because teams were worried about the fake.

The Rams released Austin Pettis to clear roster space elsewhere Monday, perhaps at linebacker. They have five receivers, all brought in by Fisher.

Pettis made 11 starts in four seasons after the Rams drafted him in the third round in 2011. He's been the fifth or sixth wide receiver this year and totaled 12 receptions for 118 yards and a touchdown.

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