Tag: punt

Orca ‘punts’ sea lion 20 feet into air as boaters watch in awe

Whale Watchers in California’s Monterey Bay spent Thanksgiving Day watching orcas showing a new pod member how to hunt sea lions.

Whale Watchers in California’s Monterey Bay spent part of Thanksgiving Day watching orcas showing a new pod member how to hunt sea lions.

One of the behaviors involved “punting” a sea lion “almost 20 feet in the air,” according to Monterey Bay Whale Watch.

The company explained via social media:

“Based on the behavior observed, this was clearly a training session for the new calf in the pod that is only several months old!

“Once they successfully killed a sea lion, the members of the pod took turns displaying attack maneuvers and behaviors to further instruct their newest pod member on how to hunt.”

The four orcas, or killer whales, belong to a family scientifically cataloged as the CA51As.

Striking images captured by Morgan Quimby show them participating in the hunt and the sea lion sailing through the air. (Click here to watch a harbor seal being punted 70 feet high.)

Monterey Bay Whale Watch added: “While it is hard to watch them hunt in this way, it is important to the survival of the pod. We got some amazing looks at this notoriously friendly pod as they practiced hunting techniques on the sea lion and slowed down towards the end of the encounter making close passes to the boat before prey sharing with one another.”

New orca calf participating in the hunt. Photo: ©Morgan Quimby Photography

The CA51As are transient killer whales, which prey almost exclusively on other marine mammals, including dolphins and baby gray whales.

Leading the hunt was the matriarch, CA51A, nicknamed Aurora. She’s the daughter of CA51, who was not present during the encounter.

Luke Fickell made another poor game-management decision during Wisconsin’s loss to Northwestern

Luke Fickell made another poor game-management decision during Wisconsin’s loss to Northwestern

The Wisconsin Badgers have issues this season, multi-faceted issues. One would be naive to point to one single thing or area on the team as the reason it sits at 5-5 and 3-4 in Big Ten play.

There are notable injuries, the offense has been downright bad, the defense isn’t dominant, the coaching seems suspect, and so on.

But one thing on that list that has hindered the team this season, and did so yet again during the 24-10 loss to Northwestern, is Luke Fickell’s game management.

The Ohio State loss was the most glaring example of this, with a field goal kicked from the OSU 1-yard line and a punt inside Buckeye territory. Overly conservative when the team needed the exact opposite.

Here is Saturday’s submission:

The answer to my question is one. It took Northwestern one play from scrimmage to get back to where Wisconsin punted from, and then eight more plays before it found the end zone and a 21-3 lead.

That is a punt Iowa can make, as it has the ugliest offense in the country and a top defense. Wisconsin’s offense may be ugly at the moment, but in no world should the team be punting on a 4th-and-3 from the opponents’ 42-yard-line.

These are the types of decisions Paul Chryst would take excess heat for, even though he was often doing it with the same Iowa recipe of a top defense and questionable offense. Moving forward with Fickell as head coach and the air raid in place, these decisions can’t be made.

We all hope the Badgers get to big games in the coming years. In those big games, they will likely be facing better teams with more talent. A coach must coach aggressively to pull those upsets, not like Fickell has in big moments this season.

Dennis Allen’s decision to punt reaches ‘99.5th percentile of cowardly punts’

Dennis Allen’s decision at the end of the third quarter reached the ‘99.5th percentile of cowardly punts’ during the 2023 season, per this metric:

Yeesh. Dennis Allen earned some boos from New Orleans Saints fans late in the third quarter during Sunday’s game with the Chicago Bears, choosing to punt on fourth-and-5 from the Chicago 40-yard line. The score was tied up 17-17.

And the decision drew criticism from the Surrender Index. A metric devised to rate punt decisions based on distance, field position, game score and clock timing, the Surrender Index is used to rate punts around the league based off how aggressive or cowardly they were. And Allen’s choice to punt in this situation hit the 99.5th percentile in the 2023 season, and the 98th percentile dating back to 1999.

It’s right in line for Allen, who would rather put the opposing offense in a tough spot and trust his defense to get a stop than risk a turnover on downs by his offense. Last season he graded out as one of the NFL’s most-cowardly decision-maker on fourth down.

But things worked out this time. Allen’s defense rallied to force their first punt of the afternoon and Rashid Shaheed returned it up to the Chicago 47-yard line. A couple of nice runs by Alvin Kamara and Taysom Hill got the Saints into scoring position, and Hill capped the drive by a touchdown pass to Juwan Johnson to take the lead. Allen’s decisions have gotten him burned before, but his conservative call worked out well this time.

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POLL: Which infamous Wisconsin punt was worse?

POLL: Which notorious Wisconsin punt was worse?

It’s time to start asking the hard-hitting questions.

Wisconsin forever was a program known for a strong running game, great defense and dominance of field position. Now with Luke Fickell as head coach and Phil Longo as offensive coordinator, we’re still waiting to see what the identity of the new program is.

That said, there was a decision in Saturday’s 24-10 loss to Ohio State that needs to be revisited. It transported us back into the ‘old Wisconsin’ mode, in a bad way.

The situation: No. 3 Ohio State leads 17-10 with less than 12 minutes left in the game. Wisconsin has the ball driving on the Ohio State 48 yard-line facing a 4th and 6. Again, the Badgers are playing one of the top teams in the country, trail by seven points and are past midfield.

The decision: Luke Fickell punted.

Narrator: It then took Ohio State a grand total of 1 play to return to where Wisconsin punted from. It was one of a few terrible game management decisions by Fickell on Saturday, the other being kicking a field goal from the Ohio State 1-yard-line entering halftime. It felt like Wisconsin was playing to keep the game close, not to win.

So, we ask the question…which infamous Wisconsin punt was worse?

Saturday, or the time Paul Chryst punted from the Minnesota 35 yard-line?

Vote on X @benzkenney. My vote is in for Saturday’s punt against Ohio State.

WATCH: Saints linebacker Zack Baun blocks a Titans punt

WATCH: Saints linebacker Zack Baun blocks a Titans punt

This is why Zack Baun made the team. The New Orleans Saints’ strong side linebacker doesn’t get to play many snaps on defense with the team running so much nickel personnel, but he continues to make his presence felt on special teams.

Baun blocked a punt from the Tennessee Titans — with Steve Gleason in the building — on Sunday to set the Saints up with excellent field position, though it was officially recorded as a 1-yard punt by Titans specialist Ryan Stonehouse. Derek Carr drove the New Orleans offense down into field goal range, where rookie kicker Blake Grupe booted a 33-yard try right between the uprights.

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Broncos CB Pat Surtain ‘wants to be part of special teams’

“He wants to be part of special teams,” Ben Kotwica said of PS2. “Everybody is buying in, so it’s really cool to see that out of Pat.”

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The Denver Broncos turned heads this spring when they had star cornerback Pat Surtain line up to catch punts during minicamp this spring.

Don’t worry, Surtain won’t be the team’s starting punt returner this season. Ben Kotwica, Denver’s special teams coordinator, explained last week that Surtain is merely being considered as a fallback option.

“You’re always looking for depth at various positions, whether it be a core player or somebody on the perimeter,” Kotwica said on June 14. “Here in the spring, you’re trying different things. Now is the time to try a different formation in your punt game or try a fake. Pat going back there to catch punts was something that we wanted to explore.

“The cool thing about Pat is that he wants to be part of special teams. Coach Payton, Coach [Mike] Westhoff and myself made it an emphasis, and Coach Payton is one of the best teachers I’ve ever seen, whether it’s offense, defense, situational ball, and even special teams. Everybody is buying in, so it’s really cool to see that out of Pat.”

Surtain returned punts in high school, but he did not have that role in college. Broncos rookie wide receiver Marvin Mims seems to be the early favorite to return punts this season — Surtain is just a backup candidate.

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Commanders end OTAs with a punt, pass and kick contest

Tress Way hosted the “contest.”

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The Washington Commanders ended their offseason Tuesday with a light workout and team meetings. The Commanders were scheduled to have one last OTA practice, but head coach Ron Rivera, happy with the offseason progress and not wanting to risk injury, decided to have a light session before breaking for training camp.

How did the Commanders finish the offseason?

By having an unofficial punt, pass and kick contest, with punter Tress Way hosting the “event,” along with kicker Joey Slye.

Linebacker Khaleke Hudson, who is having a fantastic offseason, tried his hand at kicker. How did it go?

Judge for yourself.

The Commanders probably prefer to keep Hudson at linebacker, where he has excelled.

Now, Washington has six weeks off before the team reports back to Ashburn for the beginning of training camp on July 27. As the NFL enters a quiet period, the focus turns to the Commanders’ sale, which could come to a vote in either July or August.

Surrender Index grades Saints’ early punt vs. 49ers among NFL’s most-cowardly

The Surrender Index graded the Saints’ early punt vs. 49ers among NFL’s most-cowardly. Do you agree with their take?

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Well that’s not what you want to hear. The Surrender Index Twitter account examines decision to punt in every game each week based on the specific situation, factoring in down and distance to go as well as the score and time left on the clock. It’s a unique tool, and it really disagreed with Dennis Allen’s decision to punt on Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.

Needing just a yard to pick up a fresh set of downs from their own 45-yard line about 10 minutes into the first quarter, the New Orleans Saints opted to punt the ball away rather than go for it. That decision ranked within the 91st percentile of “cowardly” punts this season, and inside the 87th percentile among all punts dating back to the 1999 season. Not great.

You’d like to see the Saints be more aggressive there, trusting in their mostly-healthy offensive line and short yardage specialists like Taysom Hill to go get a single yard near midfield. It’s an opportunity to assert themselves on the road against a better opponent.

But Allen’s decision does make some sense given more context. New Orleans ended their first drive with an Alvin Kamara fumble at their own 43-yard line, giving the high-powered 49ers offense a short field to work with (they ended up kicking a field goal from point-blank range after the Saints defense buckled down against their own end zone). Their second drive started with a false start. Maybe punting there was the right call, even if it wasn’t exciting to watch or approved by analytics services.

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WATCH: Jaguars’ special teams unit comes up with incredible save to pin Steelers inside the 5 yard line

The #Jaguars special teams unit is starting to look really special in their third preseason game against the #Steelers

Rookie Josh Thompson made one of the more impressive plays of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ third preseason game with an expertly batted ball on a punt that was about to bounce into the end zone. The play came about midway through the third quarter and set the Pittsburgh Steelers back to the two yard line to start their second drive of the half.

Check out this slick play that showed off the undrafted rookie’s excellent body control and awareness as a gunner in punt coverage:

This heady play, paired with the Jaguars’ talented defense, put the team in a position to force Pittsburgh quarterback Mason Rudolph to take an intentional grounding penalty in the end zone, resulting in a safety. The safety put Jacksonville back on top in scoring, but only by a single point, so their work is far from over.

Thompson is likely still on the outside looking in for a spot on the final 53-man roster, though this play will certainly give the coaching staff something to think about as they cut down their roster. Special teams versatility is a major plus for any fringe roster candidate, and if they think he’ll help them win games as a gunner, they may decide to keep him around.

For now, though, this play will serve as a key highlight in Thompson’s portfolio of game-changing plays and could serve him well in the future as he looks to carve out a career in the NFL.

WATCH: Wisconsin HC Paul Chryst discusses the late-game punt situation

WATCH: Wisconsin HC Paul Chryst discusses the late-game punt situation

Wisconsin had a steep hill to climb late in today’s 23-13 loss to Minnesota, as the team trailed by 10 with only four minutes left and two scores needed.

It was an unlikely comeback with how the offense had performed all game, yet it was in the realm of possibility. The first drive of the comeback effort saw Wisconsin face a 4th-and-1 at its own 21 yard-line.

Instead of immediately going for it, the Badgers sent the punt unit out on the field. The result: a false start (as the team was attempting to punt), a timeout by Wisconsin and a 4th-and-6 situation.

The Badgers picked up the first down. But the team was left with only one timeout in a late-game situation where time was of the essence. The gaffe probably did not matter in the grand scheme of things, though it was one that drew a lot of criticism as the time was ticking on Wisconsin’s chances.

Paul Chryst spoke about the situation after the game, saying “Never should’ve even been thinking to punt. I didn’t handle it well, flat out.”

Here is the head coach’s explanation:

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