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Rams’ special teams trickery has Seattle’s attention
By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_f45ef7db-0c06-5dfd-8211-cc12ec95d04b.html
Last year it was the infamous “Mountaineer” play, and then a fake punt. Three years ago, it was a fake field goal and an onside kick. The result was a pair of upset victories by the Rams over Seattle.
You think the Seahawks are working overtime this week on stopping every special teams trick play known to man?
“Oh yeah,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “You can tell them that. We are.”
On Sept. 30, 2012 at the Edward Jones Dome, in just the fourth game for coach Jeff Fisher with the Rams, his team lined up for a chip-shot field goal attempt late in the first half. But punter Johnny Hekker, who doubles as the team’s holder, took the snap, stood up, and fired a two-yard touchdown pass to Danny Amendola to give St. Louis a 10-7 lead.
“A bit of a hideout situation,” Hekker recalled. “Danny was in the play before, so he didn’t have to go inside the numbers to declare (he was in the game).”
After a third-down play, Amendola lingered near the sideline, never left the field, and his presence went undetected by the Seahawks. It’s the kind of play you might see in a high school game ... but in the NFL?
As a topper, the Rams successfully executed an onside kick and turned that into a franchise-record 60-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein. The Rams ended up winning 19-3.
Not even that 2012 trickery can match what took place last Oct. 13. In a 28-26 Rams victory at the Dome, Stedman Bailey scored a 90-yard touchdown on a bit of punt return trickery known as the Mountaineer.
With some great acting by return man Tavon Austin and most of the Rams’ punt return team, basically the entire Seattle coverage unit headed that way, thinking the ball had been kicked to Austin. Alas, the ball had been punted to the other side of the field, where Bailey fielded it and raced to the end zone against token resistance.
Bailey still sees the play pop up once in a while on social media, and his reaction is usually the same.
“Wow. We really did pull that off,” Bailey said. “A pretty spectacular play and I love it.”
It wouldn’t have been possible without the acting job by Austin, and because of that, Austin says he and Bailey long ago reached agreement on how the TD should be credited.
“Half and half,” Austin said. “He told me half his touchdown goes to me.”
If the fake field goal and its design three years ago was rare, how do you categorize the Mountaineer, so named because Bailey and Austin played college ball for the West Virginia Mountaineers?
“It’s probably a good chance it won’t happen again,” Austin said.
Maybe so, but the Seahawks undoubtedly will be on high alert for anything funky from the Rams in Sunday’s season opener, a noon kickoff at the Dome.
“They should be preparing for that 13-man punt formation,” Hekker joked. “We’ve been running that one a lot. Nine-man field goals — all this crazy stuff.”
Because of what happened in those past games, the odds say nothing of the sort happens Sunday, and if it does, it’s unsuccessful.
Rest assured, however, that Fisher and special teams coordinator John Fassel have some unused goodies left in their bag of tricks.
“We always will have something to draw upon,” Fisher said. “Whether we dial ’em up or not, that remains to be seen. You need the perfect situation for it.
“I think not only Seattle, but the rest of the league, understands that we’re one of those teams that’s going to — not take chances — but try to steal possessions with our special teams.”
But Fisher added: “We can’t go into a Seattle game expecting to win the game on a fake punt or a special teams play. We’ve got to play better offense and defense against them.”
Doing so obviously is easier said than done. Even with the special teams trickery that led to those victories over Seattle, the Rams are a mere 3-17 against their NFC West rivals since 2005. Over the past decade, the only team that has a worse record against a division foe is Buffalo at 2-18 against New England in the AFC East.
The headliners for Seattle are well-known by now: quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch on offense, cornerback Richard Sherman and free safety Earl Thomas heading up the Legion of Boom on defense.
Hard-hitting safety Kam Chancellor, in the midst of a contract holdout, won’t play. But the Seahawks added another marquee player in the offseason, acquiring all-world tight end Jimmy Graham from New Orleans.
“They utilized the tight ends quite a bit last year, especially in our games, and they made some plays,” Fisher said. “Then you add somebody like Jim that’s got great ability, and catch radius, and run-after-catch. It’s gonna be a concern.”
The mere presence of Graham means that ganging up on Lynch and the Seattle running game becomes that much more difficult.
On the other side of the ball, the Rams’ new starting quarterback (Nick Foles) and new offensive coordinator (Frank Cignetti) are up against the NFL’s top-ranked defense from a year ago. Foles faces Seattle for the first time, and does so behind the league’s most inexperienced offensive line, one that will start rookies Rob Havenstein and Jamon Brown.
“I think they’ll try to create some one-on-one matchups and step up in some gaps and try to confuse us,” Fisher said of the Seahawks. “But we’ve got a smart group up front. We wouldn’t have put (Brown and Havenstein) in a position to start if we didn’t think they were gonna get the job done. And they’re only going to get better.”
By Jim Thomas
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_f45ef7db-0c06-5dfd-8211-cc12ec95d04b.html
Last year it was the infamous “Mountaineer” play, and then a fake punt. Three years ago, it was a fake field goal and an onside kick. The result was a pair of upset victories by the Rams over Seattle.
You think the Seahawks are working overtime this week on stopping every special teams trick play known to man?
“Oh yeah,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “You can tell them that. We are.”
On Sept. 30, 2012 at the Edward Jones Dome, in just the fourth game for coach Jeff Fisher with the Rams, his team lined up for a chip-shot field goal attempt late in the first half. But punter Johnny Hekker, who doubles as the team’s holder, took the snap, stood up, and fired a two-yard touchdown pass to Danny Amendola to give St. Louis a 10-7 lead.
“A bit of a hideout situation,” Hekker recalled. “Danny was in the play before, so he didn’t have to go inside the numbers to declare (he was in the game).”
After a third-down play, Amendola lingered near the sideline, never left the field, and his presence went undetected by the Seahawks. It’s the kind of play you might see in a high school game ... but in the NFL?
As a topper, the Rams successfully executed an onside kick and turned that into a franchise-record 60-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein. The Rams ended up winning 19-3.
Not even that 2012 trickery can match what took place last Oct. 13. In a 28-26 Rams victory at the Dome, Stedman Bailey scored a 90-yard touchdown on a bit of punt return trickery known as the Mountaineer.
With some great acting by return man Tavon Austin and most of the Rams’ punt return team, basically the entire Seattle coverage unit headed that way, thinking the ball had been kicked to Austin. Alas, the ball had been punted to the other side of the field, where Bailey fielded it and raced to the end zone against token resistance.
Bailey still sees the play pop up once in a while on social media, and his reaction is usually the same.
“Wow. We really did pull that off,” Bailey said. “A pretty spectacular play and I love it.”
It wouldn’t have been possible without the acting job by Austin, and because of that, Austin says he and Bailey long ago reached agreement on how the TD should be credited.
“Half and half,” Austin said. “He told me half his touchdown goes to me.”
If the fake field goal and its design three years ago was rare, how do you categorize the Mountaineer, so named because Bailey and Austin played college ball for the West Virginia Mountaineers?
“It’s probably a good chance it won’t happen again,” Austin said.
Maybe so, but the Seahawks undoubtedly will be on high alert for anything funky from the Rams in Sunday’s season opener, a noon kickoff at the Dome.
“They should be preparing for that 13-man punt formation,” Hekker joked. “We’ve been running that one a lot. Nine-man field goals — all this crazy stuff.”
Because of what happened in those past games, the odds say nothing of the sort happens Sunday, and if it does, it’s unsuccessful.
Rest assured, however, that Fisher and special teams coordinator John Fassel have some unused goodies left in their bag of tricks.
“We always will have something to draw upon,” Fisher said. “Whether we dial ’em up or not, that remains to be seen. You need the perfect situation for it.
“I think not only Seattle, but the rest of the league, understands that we’re one of those teams that’s going to — not take chances — but try to steal possessions with our special teams.”
But Fisher added: “We can’t go into a Seattle game expecting to win the game on a fake punt or a special teams play. We’ve got to play better offense and defense against them.”
Doing so obviously is easier said than done. Even with the special teams trickery that led to those victories over Seattle, the Rams are a mere 3-17 against their NFC West rivals since 2005. Over the past decade, the only team that has a worse record against a division foe is Buffalo at 2-18 against New England in the AFC East.
The headliners for Seattle are well-known by now: quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch on offense, cornerback Richard Sherman and free safety Earl Thomas heading up the Legion of Boom on defense.
Hard-hitting safety Kam Chancellor, in the midst of a contract holdout, won’t play. But the Seahawks added another marquee player in the offseason, acquiring all-world tight end Jimmy Graham from New Orleans.
“They utilized the tight ends quite a bit last year, especially in our games, and they made some plays,” Fisher said. “Then you add somebody like Jim that’s got great ability, and catch radius, and run-after-catch. It’s gonna be a concern.”
The mere presence of Graham means that ganging up on Lynch and the Seattle running game becomes that much more difficult.
On the other side of the ball, the Rams’ new starting quarterback (Nick Foles) and new offensive coordinator (Frank Cignetti) are up against the NFL’s top-ranked defense from a year ago. Foles faces Seattle for the first time, and does so behind the league’s most inexperienced offensive line, one that will start rookies Rob Havenstein and Jamon Brown.
“I think they’ll try to create some one-on-one matchups and step up in some gaps and try to confuse us,” Fisher said of the Seahawks. “But we’ve got a smart group up front. We wouldn’t have put (Brown and Havenstein) in a position to start if we didn’t think they were gonna get the job done. And they’re only going to get better.”
