Tag: flea flicker

Commanders OC Kliff Kingsbury talks where he got unique play

Kingsbury reveals where flea-flicker screen originated from.

Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury is the talk of the NFL. Some of that is due to rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who is taking the NFL by storm. However, the former Arizona head coach is rightfully earning praise for the offense he’s built around Daniels.

Coming into the season, there were lots of questions about Kingsbury. Would his pass protection schemes work? How would he run the ball? What about keeping his top wide receiver lined up in one spot throughout the entire game?

It’s safe to say Kingsbury didn’t listen to any of that talk. The former quarterback and head coach regained some of the buzz surrounding him before landing with the Cardinals in 2019. Analysts watching Daniels can’t get enough of Kingsbury’s schemes and play designs.

In Sunday’s loss to the Ravens, Kingsbury called one play many fans and analysts had never seen before. It was a flea-flicker, but it wasn’t just any flea-flicker.

Check it out:

On Friday, Kingsbury met with the media and was questioned about that specific play, to which the offensive coordinator revealed where it came from.

“Yeah, I gotta cite my sources as always,” Kingsbury said. “It’s a [Louisville head coach] Jeff Brohm play. He did it at Purdue, and obviously, we have [Assistant QB Coach] David Blough, who played for Jeff Brohm. So, David Blough had brought that one up and we ended up, they threw it to a tight end. We ended up sneaking [RB] Austin [Ekeler] back there and it ended up working out. The guys executed it perfectly because they brought a pressure, which even made it better. But yeah, that’s, shout out Jeff Brohm for that one.”

Blough played for Brohm at Purdue and later for Kingsbury with the Cardinals. He joined Kingsbury’s offensive staff this past offseason.

While some in the media world spent the offseason criticizing Kingsbury, he was in a lab creating plays, studying other offenses to build the perfect offense for Daniels.

If things keep trending in this direction, Kingsbury will have head coaching options again in his future.

Lions build lead against Cowboys with TD on flea flicker

The Lions were up big early against the Cowboys thanks to a flea flicker

The Detroit Lions’ Ben Johnson had the Cowboys rocked on Sunday and went for a big play.

He called a fancy, tricky one and it worked to perfection as Jared Goff eventually wound up with the football and threw it to a wide open Sam LaPorta running down the sidelines.

The play was good for 52 yards and the PAT made it 17-3 against an injury-ravaged Dallas defense.

Here’s what Jaguars coach Urban Meyer said about the controversial flea-flicker call

Meyer said he instructs his coordinators to be aggressive in their play-calling.

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Jacksonville had a big opportunity to earn a season-defining win on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, but it came up short despite leading by nine points in the second half Byron Murphy Jr.

The major turning point in the game was when the Jaguars called a flea-flicker while leading 19-17, which resulted in a bombarded Trevor Lawrence short-arming a throw off his back foot, resulting in a pick-six.

After the game, Meyer said he signed off on the call and generally supports aggressive play-calling

“I always tell [offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell] to be aggressive,” he said. “As I’ve always told my coordinators all along the years, let me be the overruler. Be the aggressive guy. I heard it come over the headset and obviously, I didn’t stop it. Then I looked up and saw [D.J. Chark Jr.] behind the defense, we were behind them. It was a big one. And then I look up and the ball is picked.

“The decision I made a long time ago was to be aggressive. You’ve got to be smart, but be aggressive.”

The play gave the Cardinals the lead, and it proved to be the deciding factor, as Jacksonville didn’t score again after that. It was the sixth interception of the season for quarterback Lawrence, whose decision-making has left a bit to be desired through three games.

Bevell and Meyer are certainly not doing much to inhibit Lawrence’s aggressive tendencies, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But with that being said, the rookie does need to be more judicious in the shots he takes moving forward.

Watch: Panthers score touchdown on flea-flicker

The Carolina Panthers used the old flea-flicker for a touchdown against the Falcons.

Trickeration can be risky. However, it paid off for the Carolina Panthers Thursday against the Atlanta Falcons in the second quarter.

Check out the flea-flicker with the ball winding up in Teddy Bridgewater’s hands before he fired a pass that found Curtis Samuel in the end zone.

Seahawks inch up to No. 4 in Touchdown Wire’s Week 13 power rankings

The Seahawks continue their climb in the NFL power rankings after beating the Eagles to advance to 9-2 on the season and 6-0 on the road.

The Seahawks continue their climb in the NFL power rankings after beating the Philadelphia Eagles Sunday to advance to 9-2 on the season and a perfect 6-0 road record.

Seattle has jumped up two spots to land at No. 4 in Touchdown Wire’s Week 13 rankings.

“The Seahawks’ win over the Eagles on Sunday resembled the Legion of Boom days more than most anything Russell Wilson has accomplished this season,” writes Doug Farrar. “Though he did connect with receiver Malik Turner on a ridiculous 33-yard flea-flicker touchdown, Wilson was uncharacteristically shut down by Philly’s normally vulnerable secondary, completing 13 of 25 passes for 200 yards, that one touchdown, and his third interception of the year.”

“It was Seattle’s defense, with its ability to harass Carson Wentz and shut down the Eagles’ limited receivers, who really defined this game – even without the injured Jadeveon Clowney,” Farrar continues. “Also, 2018 first-round pick (and near-bust based on overall performance) Rashaad Penny gained a career-high 128 yards on the ground. Another unusual wrinkle: The team known for the most prominent home-field advantage in the NFL is one of two remaining undefeated road teams, and the Seahawks’ 6-0 away record beats San Francisco’s by one game.”

The Seahawks are next set to square off against the Vikings in primetime in an NFC matchup that can’t be missed.

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WATCH: Russell Wilson throws ridiculous flea-flicker touchdown pass

Russell Wilson couldn’t wait to remind everyone that he’s the NFL’s best deep passer — and should still be in the lead for the MVP vote.

It seems that with the Seahawks’ Week 11 bye, the NFL MVP conversation shifted from Russell Wilson to Lamar Jackson in a big hurry. And while Jackson deserves every bit of the praise coming his way, we may be experiencing some recency bias. Early on in Seattle’s Week 12 game against the Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field, Wilson seemed determined to remind everyone just who’s in charge here.

The Seahawks went three-and-out with a Wilson sack on their first drive, but perhaps they were just warming up. On Seattle’s second drive, Wilson hit tight end Jacob Hollister for 21 yards, zinged one to DK Metcalf for 17 more yards, and then, there was this.

With right tackle/Godzilla tight end George Fant in motion from left to right, Wilson handed the ball to halfback Chris Carson out of heavy personnel, and the Eagles certainly assumed a running play here. Not so fast, Sherlock, as Carson dumped the ball back to Wilson, who dutifully waited for receiver Malik Turner to get open downfield.

Turner actually wasn’t all that open downfield, with safety Rodney McLeod (No. 23) and cornerback Jalen Mills (No. 31) converging. But Wilson put the biscuit in the basket, and made an absolutely phenomenal throw to Turner for the 33-yard touchdown.

Making this throw more impressive? Check out the conditions at the Linc today:

Coming into this game, Wilson led all quarterbacks with a 135.4 passer rating on passes of 20 or more air yards, and this will just up that particular statistic. Counting that touchdown, Wilson has now completed 27 of 53 deep balls for 360 yards, seven touchdowns, and no interceptions.

It’s just one part of Wilson’s MVP portfolio, but his status as the league’s most efficient deep passer is a crucial tool for a run-balanced offense that gets its shot plays off play action, and relies on a ruthlessly accurate deep thrower to keep things going.

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