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The Kansas City Chiefs executed the rare fake punt passing play during Sunday’s win against the New York Jets.
Chiefs rookie punter Tommy Townsend had a penchant for fake punts in college at the University of Florida. They always used his athleticism as a runner to get the job done, though. Andy Reid and Dave Toub would never be satisfied running the same old trick punts that Townsend ran in college. Instead, they called upon his days as a quarterback at Boone High School in Orlando, Florida.
Reid had high praise for the play and execution by Townsend following the game. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough to get the job done.
“Yeah, well they’ve been working on it. I mean, they’ve been doing it the last couple, three weeks, and it’s been like clockwork,” Reid said. “That one did get a little high. It’s different when it’s in a game, and he’s as good a thrower as there is. So, he’s a real good athlete and he was able to show a little bit of that today. But it’s a little different in a game. Next time he does it, it’ll be better. It won’t be quite as high, but we’ll take it right there.”
As for Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, he was unaware that the fake punt was called. He was disappointed that he didn’t have an opportunity to pick up the fourth-down himself. Little did he know what was coming. After they called the fake, he was blown away by how it turned out, going out and scoring a touchdown on the very next play. After the game, Mahomes complimented his teammate on his arm and the coaching staff for the gutsy play call at a key point in the game.
“I thought it was sweet, he ripped that thing,” Mahomes said. “It wasn’t a lollipop at all, I mean he caught it and he ripped it over there, so it was pretty impressive. I actually didn’t know it was happening. I was trying to go for it and Coach (Andy) Reid was – I should’ve known by the way he kind of just said go ahead and he sent the special teams out there. I was like, “man, you’re not even going to think about it?” I guess he already had things planned ahead. I think Toub (Coach Dave Toub) does a great job and he has for a very long time of having different tricks and having different ways to execute at a high level of that special teams group. It gave us a chance to have another play and we were able to score on it. It was a big point in the game.”
Mahomes, of course, is safe and won’t have to worry about Townsend coming for his job. New York, however, might want to call the Chiefs about acquiring Townsend to become their new starting QB. Townsend (118.8) finished the day with a better passer rating than Jets QB Sam Darnold (70.6).
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