tennesseeboy Posted September 16, 2008 Posted September 16, 2008 Okay...it can be told. Jackson has been playing well and it was it a very short holdout. Not quite a Jason Peters kind of impact, but it did get folks attention.
buffaloboyinATL Posted September 16, 2008 Posted September 16, 2008 Yea going along with what others have alluded to, I think that they may have been trying to get Jacksonville to kick it where they didn't think anybody was in order to keep it away from McGee. Then all of a sudden another player pops up, and returns it when the kicking team was not expecting a return, or at least a return from a competent return man. That sounds right. We were probably hoping they would try to kick to the "empty" side and then be fooled.
Bleed Bills Blue Posted September 16, 2008 Posted September 16, 2008 at one point in the game, they showed Fred Jackson lying down just before a kickoff...Anyone know what was up with that? He was just having a Jason Peters moment.
SuperKillerRobots Posted September 16, 2008 Posted September 16, 2008 Good thought. Do they watch which numbers come onto the field though? So they'd know a running back (Jackson) had come in to cover the kick? This is the only thing I can think of. Maybe they anticipate teams paying too much attention to McGee, but not really fearing Jackson. So this might be a ploy, so that later in the season they can sneak McKelvin on the field instead of Jackson, so when the opposition thinks they are kicking away from McGee they are actually kicking to McKelvin (or vice versa). I agree too that it is probably setting soemthing up for later on in the season.
HardyBoy Posted September 16, 2008 Posted September 16, 2008 This is the only thing I can think of. Maybe they anticipate teams paying too much attention to McGee, but not really fearing Jackson. So this might be a ploy, so that later in the season they can sneak McKelvin on the field instead of Jackson, so when the opposition thinks they are kicking away from McGee they are actually kicking to McKelvin (or vice versa). I agree too that it is probably setting soemthing up for later on in the season. Man I hope that they do it against the Jets, and the Jets game gets moved to Sunday night, just so I can hear Madden try and announce that. Just thinking about all the things he might say are crackin me up right now; "Ya see he's laying down like he's taking a nap or something, then all of a sudden, boom there he goes." Drawing zzzz's over Jackson's head or something. And you know Favre's face would be super classic. This needs to happen!
Lori Posted September 16, 2008 Posted September 16, 2008 Okay...it can be told. Jackson has been playing well and it was it a very short holdout. Not quite a Jason Peters kind of impact, but it did get folks attention.
LabattBlue Posted September 16, 2008 Posted September 16, 2008 Bobby April is a great ST coach, but the Jackson lying down thing was flat out stupid. This is the NFL, not sandlot football. Concentrate on teaching the guys to always be aware of an onside kick and stop trying to come up with a gimmick that no one else is doing. In all my years of football, I have never seen anything like this.
BuffaloBilliever Posted September 16, 2008 Posted September 16, 2008 It's Bobby April. Ryan Denney has a freaking TD reception people. Fred Jackson is laying down on kick offs. He's the best ST coach in the game for a reason. It all means something. Hell, the players looking down the field could get thrown off by it. Football is half mental, remember.
inkman Posted September 16, 2008 Posted September 16, 2008 Anyone know what was up with that? Fred saw ahole in the ground.
LynchMob23 Posted September 16, 2008 Posted September 16, 2008 Bobby April is a great ST coach, but the Jackson lying down thing was flat out stupid. This is the NFL, not sandlot football. Concentrate on teaching the guys to always be aware of an onside kick and stop trying to come up with a gimmick that no one else is doing. In all my years of football, I have never seen anything like this. No offense Labatt, but every article and quote by the coaches says that April did anticipate the onside call at the beginning of the week and the players just didn't focus on that play. So, given he's the best ST coach in the NFL, I think I'll go with his lying down trick and whatever other April Fools he's got...
Mickey Posted September 16, 2008 Posted September 16, 2008 There are lots of possibilities but only Bobby April, the Wizard of Foot knows. Maybe it was to make them think there was only one guy there so no reverse was coming when in fact, that is what was called. Maybe they figured he was going to kick away from McGee and so they didn't want to give the kicker a target to aim for maybe making it more likely he'll sail one out of bounds. Kind of like going at a green with your 5 iron from 190 with no flag on the green to aim for. Maybe they were trying to fool them into a line drive, low kick to where they thought we goofed up before we realized our "error". Gotta love it.
Mickey Posted September 16, 2008 Posted September 16, 2008 No offense Labatt, but every article and quote by the coaches says that April did anticipate the onside call at the beginning of the week and the players just didn't focus on that play. So, given he's the best ST coach in the NFL, I think I'll go with his lying down trick and whatever other April Fools he's got... Yeah, DJ said they warned the guys right before that kick that an onside might be coming. I think it was just executed very well and the ball just took a bad bounce when Wendling tried to cover it. I think he was the first guy there from either team, barely. A good rule of thumb to protect agaist this kind of onside kick is to have your center man, Wendling in this case, take his first step forward, not back, automatically, whether he reads an onside or not. The guys up front usually start dropping back into whatever blocking pattern is called just as the kicker makes contact. Similar to the way lineman drop back at the snap on passing plays. Wendling has to read the onside as it happens and before he drops back and then goes forward to try and nab it. But in the time it takes to make the read, he loses ground. If he always takes his first step or two fwd when the ball is kicked, then if it is an onside, he is already moving to where he needs to be and if it isn't, he stops and heads back. If done right, that kind of onside kick is really tough to defend. Bobby has used it himself on a number of occasions.
Heels20X6 Posted September 16, 2008 Posted September 16, 2008 Yeah, DJ said they warned the guys right before that kick that an onside might be coming. I think it was just executed very well and the ball just took a bad bounce when Wendling tried to cover it. I think he was the first guy there from either team, barely. A good rule of thumb to protect agaist this kind of onside kick is to have your center man, Wendling in this case, take his first step forward, not back, automatically, whether he reads an onside or not. The guys up front usually start dropping back into whatever blocking pattern is called just as the kicker makes contact. Similar to the way lineman drop back at the snap on passing plays. Wendling has to read the onside as it happens and before he drops back and then goes forward to try and nab it. But in the time it takes to make the read, he loses ground. If he always takes his first step or two fwd when the ball is kicked, then if it is an onside, he is already moving to where he needs to be and if it isn't, he stops and heads back. If done right, that kind of onside kick is really tough to defend. Bobby has used it himself on a number of occasions. Not only that, but if Wendling moves forward and makes a play for the ball, one of the opposing defenders may become eager to play the ball, and try to field it before the required 10 yards traveled by the ball. Great post Mickey!
R. Rich Posted September 16, 2008 Posted September 16, 2008 Maybe it's like that highschool basketball play I'd seen on youtube where the team is trying to inbound the ball and one of the players just starts barking like a dog to distract the other team. It's a Bobby April WTF moment! Yup. I was thinking the same thing when I first saw it, although I'm sure that wasn't the case.
fishmonger Posted September 18, 2008 Posted September 18, 2008 The answer, in case you missed it; Bills back Fred Jackson explained why he was face down on the field before a couple of Buffalo kickoff returns in Jacksonville. He said it was a ploy cooked up by special teams coach Bobby April to try to cause a few of the Jaguars coverage men to lose their focus. Said Jackson: “We were just trying to get any advantage we could. I was laying down to see if I could distract some of the Jaguar players when they were coming down and get them to focus on me instead of T [Terrence McGee] returning the kick. It was just a little distraction to see if I could distract somebody. I think it worked for the most part. I think I got two or three guys watching me instead of paying attention to T.”
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