So, did the New Orleans Saints cause a blocked punt or a fumble of Johnny Hekker on Sunday? Whatever it was, it didn’t matter to Carolina Panthers interim head coach Chris Tabor.
In the second quarter of Week 14’s eventual 28-6 loss, the Panthers opened up the flood gates on Hekker—as linebacker Saints Nephi Sewell went untouched to the All-Pro punter. Sewell then blocked, or forced a fumble, on Hekker—giving way to an 8-yard return for a touchdown by Spartanburg native D’Marco Jackson.
There's just something about punt blocks in the Dome…
Nephi blocks it, D'Marco scoops and scores 🔥
📺 @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/KybCvkYFtQ
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) December 10, 2023
Tabor, who is also still Carolina’s special teams coordinator, was asked about the play to kick off his postgame press conference.
“It was a blocked punt,” he said. “Man didn’t go out and block the guy like he was supposed to. So, that’s a mistake that obviously cannot happen.”
At first, the play was ruled as a blocked punt. But since Hekker never actually punted the ball, the league changed it to a fumble.
Either way, it was a bad result.
“To me, it’s a blocked punt,” Tabor later added. “It’s a blocked punt, they scored off it. However people wanna score it in fantasy football, it doesn’t matter to me. We made a mistake, didn’t do our job and that hurt us there.”
Well, hopefully all of your fantasy teams had a fine performance this week, regardless.
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