The Houston Texans were pretty well set for an upset win over the Patriots on Sunday, so of course, they had to do something that was oh-so-Texans. That occurred with 10:26 left in the third quarter, and Houston up 22-9. The Texans were punting from their own 36-yard line, and they decided to get a little “special” on special teams on a play in which punter Cameron Johnston started at shotgun depth as if he were awaiting a snap for a fake punt, and then backed off to standard punting depth.
After that, things got really weird. Defensive back Terrence Brooks motioned to the backfield pre-snap, and Johnston punted the ball right into the back of Brooks’ helmet. The result was the rarely seen zero-yard total on a fake fake punt.
anatomy of a zero-yard punt https://t.co/qlFg6U1wGq
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) October 10, 2021
We at Touchdown Wire will add this to the lexicon of plays that should be burned and never seen again, right up there with the Steelers’ fourth-down passes to running back Najee Harris behind the line of scrimmage.