Tag: Onside kick

5 takeaways from the Broncos’ 13-6 loss to Steelers

Here are five quick takeaways from the Broncos’ loss to the Steelers in Week 2.

The Denver Broncos dropped to 0-2 on Sunday afternoon following an ugly 13-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Empower Field at Mile High. Here are five quick takeaways from the team’s latest defeat.

1. The run game is a mess: For the second straight week, quarterback Bo Nix ended the day as Denver’s leading rusher (four carries for 25 yards). Javonte Williams rushed 11 times for 17 yards with an awful 1.5 yards per carry average. Jaleel McLaughlin wasn’t much better, rushing three times for six yards. Either the backs aren’t running well, the offensive line isn’t blocking well, or defenses aren’t respecting Nix and selling out to stop the run. Perhaps it’s a combination of all three factors. Whatever’s to blame, Broncos coach Sean Payton needs to fix it quickly.

2. Greg Dulcich is running out of opportunities: After two injury-plagued seasons, Dulcich is finally healthy, but he’s not contributing much on offense. Dulchich remains a liability as a blocker and he had two poor drops on Sunday. The tight end only hauled in three catches for 16 yards on eight targets. Denver has to consider making Lucas Krull active next week — it’s hard to imagine Krull playing any worse than Dulcich at this point.

3. Kristian Welch won a role quickly: Just days after joining the Broncos, Welch ate into Cody Barton’s snaps in Week 1. Denver’s staff must have liked what they saw because Welch got the start against the Steelers in Week 2. Welch finished the game with two tackles and Barton rotated into the game, adding six tackles. Time will tell if one of Barton or Welch can lock down the inside linebacker job.

4. Sean Payton made questionable decisions: Trailing the Steelers by 13 points in the fourth quarter, Payton opted to kick a 34-yard field goal instead of attempting to convert a 4th-and-6 at Pittsburgh’s 16-yard line. After that field goal, the Broncos still needed two possessions to tie or take the lead. Had the team failed to pick up a fourth down, they still would have needed two possessions. Later in the game, after making it 13-6 with another field goal, Denver kicked it deep despite being past the two-minute warning with only one timeout left. After forcing a punt, the Broncos did end up getting the ball back with nine seconds, but that wasn’t enough time for a comeback. Payton opting to kick a field goal and his later deciding to not attempt an onside kick were curious decisions.

5. Bo Nix needs a lot more time: Through two games in the NFL, Nix now has zero touchdown passes and four interceptions, including a terrible interception in the red zone and a game-clinching turnover on the last play of Sunday’s game. Nix also made numerous inaccurate passes on Sunday. Fans in Denver can only hope it’s rookie jitters for the quarterback. There’s a lot of room for improvement for Nix going forward.

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Sean Payton explains why Broncos did not attempt onside kick vs. Steelers

Why didn’t the Broncos attempt an onside kick against the Steelers? “We were hopeful to have two or three plays,” Sean Payton said.

After kicking a field goal and making it 13-6 against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton opted to kick it deep despite only having one timeout left and being past the two-minute warning.

After an eventual 13-6 loss, Payton was asked why he did not opt to attempt an onside kick instead.

“We spent a lot of time going through it back and forth,” Payton said. “We had plenty of time to discuss it, there was a player down. The long run on third down prior to them punting took about six seconds.

“We were hopeful to have two or three plays before we went to the end. It was just weighing the odds versus recovering an onside kick or getting the ball back with 26 seconds. We chose to kick off.”

The Steelers ended up punting with 18 seconds left and Denver had nine seconds left after Marvin Mims’ return. After one play took eight seconds, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix threw an interception on the final play of the game, sealing a loss.

Payton was also asked about his decision earlier in the fourth quarter to kick a field goal to cut the deficit to 13-3 instead of attempting to convert on 4th-and-6 at Pittsburgh’s 16-yard line. Had Denver failed to pick up the fourth down, the team would have needed two possessions to tie or take the lead. After kicking a field goal, the Broncos still needed two possessions. So why kick it?

“Time-wise, we felt like we were still in a good position, looking at the clock,” Payton said of the decision.

In a game that was ultimately decided by six points, Payton’s decisions are certainly deserving of scrutiny.

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Thomas Morstead reacts to NFL eliminating surprise onside kicks

The surprise onside kick was already in danger, but now it’s extinct. Saints legend Thomas Morstead is just happy to have played a part in its memorable story:

Surprise onside kicks were already an endangered species in the NFL, but a new rules change is pushing them into extinction. As part of a new hybrid kick return model being trialed in 2024, teams must declare whether they’re trying an onside kick — something that’s really just a formality after previous rules changes made the play obvious.

Thomas Morstead became a New Orleans Saints legend for executing the team’s surprise onside kick, the “Ambush” play, to start the second half of Super Bowl XLIV. So for him this was a poignant moment. Morstead expressed his gratitude for having a place in NFL history as part of New Orleans’ championship-winning team.

Ironically, Saints special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi spearheaded the effort to change it while envisioning a model that will lead to more return opportunities (which you can read about here). Onside kicks were scarce in recent years, and successful recoveries were even more of a rarity, so this was a small sacrifice to make. As Morstead observed, “The game continues to change.”

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Saints ST coach Darren Rizzi leading onside kick rules change proposal

Successful onside kicks have become a rare thing in the NFL, but Saints special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi is working to reverse that:

Successful onside kicks have become a rare thing in the NFL as health and safety-minded rules changes cut down on opportunities for teams to design a clever play, but New Orleans Saints special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi is working to reverse that.

Rizzi workshopped a proposal with other special teams coordinators around the league (namely the Dallas Cowboys’ John Fassel and Chicago Bears’ Richard Hightower, per the MMQB’s Albert Breer) to present to the NFL competition committee with hopes of making the game’s third phase more exciting while keeping player safety in mind.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, their proposal would limit onside kick attempts to situations in which teams are trailing in the fourth quarter, as well as requiring them to declare their intentions before trying it. But they would be allowed to use old-school unbalanced formations, giving the kicking team a numbers advantage in recovery.

This is one of several ways in which the NFL is trying to relitigate kick returns after their last wave of rules changes essentially nullified them; we’ve never seen so few kicks returned or onside kicks recovered in the history of the game. Pelissero adds that other aspects of the proposal include more limitations on when and where players can move before the kick is touched, as well as increasing the distance gained from a touchback to 35 yards.

Still, if these rules already existed we’d be without one of the most memorable plays in Saints history: “Ambush,” the surprise onside kick to start the third quarter of Super Bowl XLIV.

The NFL has written itself into a corner by coming down so hard on kick returns. More rules changes could help, but they’re just as likely to continue whittling the play’s impact on the game even further down. Having experienced special teams coaches like Rizzi at the forefront may be good for the process, but the results will speak for themselves.

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Saints’ failed onside kick vs. Rams was part of an NFL-wide trend

The Saints’ failed onside kick against the Rams was part of an NFL-wide trend. Teams are 1-for-31 on recovering them in 2023:

This isn’t a stat you want to be on the wrong side of, but that’s where the New Orleans Saints found themselves. Head coach Dennis Allen chose to try an onside kick in the final minutes of Thursday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams while trailing a 30-22 deficit; but the kick was not recovered.

And as observed by the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin, NFL teams are now 1-for-31 when trying an onside kick in 2023. The success rate has never been very high on these plays (and the kicks that were recovered were often surprise onside kicks), but it’s still mighty discouraging to see just how much of a longshot this tactic has become.

Recent NFL rules changes banned a running start for the kicking team as well as how many coverage players teams could line up before the kick, citing safety concerns; the result is that teams now have a 3.2% success rate when trying to recover an onside kick.

So maybe teams (including the Saints) are better off just kicking it deep and hoping for a stop. They’ll have to get creative and search for other solutions with onside kicks going the way of the dinosaur.

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Sean Payton explains onside kick decision vs. Raiders

“It was just one of those things that we felt, percentage-wise, we felt pretty good about the onside kick,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said.

Surprise onside kicks are nothing new for Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton, with his most notable attempt being a successful onside kick after halftime against the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.

Even considering that history, though, it was still unexpected when the Broncos opened their 2023 season with an onside kick against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 1.

Denver recovered the kick but cornerback Tremon Smith was deemed to have touched it just before it went the required 10 yards, and the resulting penalty set the Raiders up with good field position.

After an eventual 17-16 loss, Payton was asked about his decision to begin the game with a surprise onside kick.

“It was something we had seen on film,” Payton explained. “It wasn’t like a random [decision]. We just felt like we saw a leverage opportunity [and] we wanted to take advantage of. Obviously, we didn’t want to contact the ball before 10 yards. So it was kind of being aggressive and yet we felt like we came to win a game.

“It was something we discussed if we won the toss. We were going to defer and then we wanted it kicked over on our sideline. It was just one of those things that we felt, percentage-wise, we felt pretty good about the onside kick.”

Had they avoided the penalty, a successful onside kick would have been a great way to start the Payton era in Denver. Instead, Las Vegas went on to take a 7-0 lead and later won the game. Football is a game of inches, and Sunday was a good reminder of that.

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Sean Payton gets ‘Ambushed’ by Bill Vinovich after surprise onside kick

Broncos head coach Sean Payton got “Ambushed” by referee Bill Vinovich after opening his tenure with a surprise onside kick:

You couldn’t script this any better. Sean Payton opened his Denver Broncos tenure with one of the most iconic plays of his New Orleans Saints career — or at least he tried to. Payton called the same “Ambush” onside kick he dialed up to open the second half of Super Bowl XLIV for the opening kickoff in Sunday’s Week 1 game against the Las Vegas Raiders, and at first it worked out. Former Saints kicker Wil Lutz did his job well.

Denver recovered. Players celebrated on the sideline and fans were raucous in the stands. Announcers on the broadcast couldn’t believe the gutsy decision. And then Bill Vinovich emerged.

That’s right — the head referee from the 2019 NFC championship game debacle, who neglected to throw a penalty flag or own up to the mistake that let the Los Angeles Rams get away with a blatant pass interference foul, helping to cost the Saints (and Payton) another Super Bowl berth. Vinovich hasn’t worked a game in New Orleans since that incident, but he was on hand when Payton’s Broncos hit the field.

And he threw the flag this time. Vinovich fouled Denver for an illegal touch penalty on cornerback Tremon Smith, wiping out the would-be onside kick. The Raiders took over inside Broncos territory instead and quickly drove downfield to take a 7-0 lead.

Ouch. Payton took a ton of Saints players and coaches with him this offseason after accepting the Broncos job. But he can’t take the playbook with him.

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Watch: Jaguars open with surprise onside kick vs. Chiefs

Riley Patterson executed a perfect surprise onside kick to open the game and recovered it himself.

The Jacksonville Jaguars stole a possession to open their Week 10 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs.

After the Chiefs won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff, the Jaguars busted out a surprise onside kick that was both executed and recovered by kicker Riley Patterson.

After a first down pushed the ball in Chiefs territory, the Jaguars wasted the opportunity. A laser beam from Trevor Lawrence down the field was dropped by Christian Kirk and a third down pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage. Jacksonville elected to punt and it tumbled into the end zone for a touchback.

The Chiefs lead the NFL in scoring and the Jaguars are likely aware that it’s going to take a lot of offense and a decent time of possession to pull off the upset. While the onside kick didn’t result in a drive for points, Jaguars coach Doug Pederson is clearly ready to pull out all the stops.

Uh-oh, Bama: Twitter reacts to Arkansas’ score, onside kick

Twitter was ablaze after Arkansas scored first in the second half and recovered an onside kick against Alabama.

Arkansas’ offense finally came alive.

And combined with a defense that doesn’t have to face the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, the Razorbacks’ chances against second-ranked Alabama aren’t through yet.

AJ Green ran for a 11-yard touchdown with 7:47 left in the third quarter to trim Alabama’s lead to 14, 28-14. It was the second straight score by the Hogs, who trailed 28-0 in the second quarter.

Alabama remained without quarterback Bryce Young who left early in the second quarter with what appeared to be a shoulder injury. Redshirt freshman Jalen Milroe took his place. Milroe led the Crimson Tide to two of the four touchdowns, but Alabama had to punt on its first drive of the second half.

Arkansas kicked onside following Green’s touchdown and recovered

Oklahoma Sooners-Oregon Ducks among most controversial games listing

The Oklahoma Sooners and Oregon Ducks matchup in 2006 is still viewed as one of the most controversial in history.

You know that old saying, controversy creates discussion? Well actually it is controversy that creates cash, but in this situation it creates discussion. The Oklahoma Sooners are no strangers to controversy. Continue reading “Oklahoma Sooners-Oregon Ducks among most controversial games listing”