Tag: trick play

Darren Rizzi on trick-play TD: ‘What a great play, what a great pass, what a great call’

Darren Rizzi was impressed with the Saints’ trick-play touchdown: “What a great play, what a great pass, what a great call”

The New Orleans Saints had a very difficult time moving the ball against the Washington Commanders in the first half, and even moreso trying to put points on the board. However, in the second half, they found a spark of life and managed to score on a trick-play touchdown pass. Spencer Rattler threw over to Cedrick Wilson Jr, who flung a high-arcing pass 21 yards to Alvin Kamara for a one-handed touchdown grab.

It was enough to impress interim head coach Darren Rizzi, who praised everyone involved with it — Wilson on the throw, Kamara on the catch, and offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak for drawing it up and trying it out at practice last week.

This pass was Wilson’s first since 2021, and interestingly enough, he is actually 6-for-6 on completions for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns to 0 interceptions, worthy of a 158.3 passer efficiency rating (the maximum) and a 99 or above QB rating in every season he has thrown a pass. At the collegiate level, he also was effective, completing 4 of his 5 pass attempts in two seasons for 130 yards and 1 touchdown to 0 interceptions.

He was a strong passer at the high school level, too. Per Nola.com’s Rod Walker, Wilson completed 142 of his 239 pass attempts for 1,973 yards and 22 touchdowns in his senior season. The dual-threat had not seen a ton of opportunities for the Saints this season, but after that throw, he may see the field more often to run some more trick plays every now and then.

[lawrence-auto-related count=]

WATCH: Saints use a trick play to score first TD of Week 15

Alvin Kamara caught a long touchdown pass against the Commanders, but it wasn’t thrown by a Saints quarterback:


The New Orleans Saints dug into their trick play bag to score to get on the board for the first time against the Washington Commanders.

Alvin Kamara scored his first touchdown since Week 6 and his first receiving touchdown since Week 2, but it didn’t come from a quarterback. Spencer Rattler pitched the ball backwards to Cedrick Wilson Jr. and Wilson threw the touchdown. Kamara pulled in the pass with one hand to add some extra flair at the end.

Wilson has a perfect completion percentage in his career. This was his sixth pass attempt and completion of his career, in addition to his second touchdown.

The play came off the heels of Rattler’s big pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling. That pass brought them down the field, and the trick play closed out the drive.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5]

Andy Reid on Travis Kelce’s trick play vs. Saints: ‘We do it every day in practice’

Andy Reid said that the #Chiefs practice the trick play that Travis Kelce and Samaje Perine used against the #Saints in Week 5.

Tight end Travis Kelce got off to a slow start in his 2024 campaign, but made an early impact in the Kansas City Chiefs’ Week 5 matchup against the New Orleans Saints on “Monday Night Football.”

Kelce may have turned 35 this week, but the long-tenured pass-catcher still has plenty of tricks up his sleeve.

Facing a long 3rd and 22, quarterback Patrick Mahomes connected with the veteran tight end for a short gain, but as Kelce maneuvered through the open space in the middle of the field, he lateraled the ball to running back Samaje Perine, who was able to get Kansas City close to the first down marker.

Check out this video of Kelce’s highlight reel play, which was posted to Twitter by the NFL’s official account:

 

Heading into halftime, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was asked about the play and seemed to confirm that Kelce and Perine had practiced the unorthodox lateral in practice.

 

Expect the All-Pro tight end to keep making spectacular plays as the Chiefs look to remain undefeated heading into their bye week.

Watch: Fifth grader pulls off an impressive William Tell trick with his father

Fifth grader has a fun trick play with his father.

Joivan Jimenez’s father must really love and trust and his son. He is willing to risk a headache and a welt to the back of the head, all for going viral.

(And some quality time with his fifth-grade son)

Jimenez is a quarterback prospect who frequently goes viral for his trick passes (it helps that his following on TikTok is over 100,000). Ranked the No. 7 quarterback prospect in the class of 2031, Jimenez is able to combine the ability to make trick throws along with actually being able to play the quarterback position at a high level.

And, he is blessed with a father who is willing to not only mentor him but become part of the show.

In this William Tell trick, Jimenez tries to knock a bottle off of his father’s head. The best part of the video is that his first throw almost completes the trick before he nails it on the second throw.

Check out the throw…and what might be an NIL endorsement video…

 

Narrowly missing on that first throw only enhances his ability to make this trick happen.

However, let’s be honest here…a bad throw to the back of his father’s head and no more play time outside. Nope, it is back inside to complete his earth science project (a diorama of the tundra is due on Monday morning). And, he needs to clean his bedroom.

Also, Jake down the road is having a birthday party too. Have to swing by that.

Sounds like a busy weekend in the Jimenez household. Better down another Prime for energy.

WATCH: Chiefs convert crucial fourth down with fake punt pass

The #Chiefs resorted to some serious trickery to convert a fourth down against the #Raiders with a fake punt pass.

The Kansas City Chiefs have resorted to trickery during their Week 16 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders and managed to pull off a slick fake punt pass late in the second quarter to convert a crucial fourth down.

Punter Tommy Townsend was responsible for the throw on the play and found veteran wide receiver Justin Watson near the sideline to pick up a much-needed first down.

Take a look at the outstanding fake here, and take note of Watson’s impressive sliding catch:

While the Chiefs won’t want to rely on unconventional methods to keep the ball matriculating downfield, plays like this are a sign that Kansas City can still pick up yards in key situations.

Facing a 10-point deficit before halftime, the Chiefs need to find a way to come up with a few scores before the game gets out of hand. Expect Patrick Mahomes to play with more restraint in the third and fourth quarters to keep Kansas City from relying on their punter to gain gritty yards.

A high schooler might’ve just pulled off the Jalen Carter spike play… but didn’t get the call

A St. Augustine High School player nearly intercepted a spike. Ruled incomplete instead, St. Bonaventure won on a trick play of its own on the very next play.

You likely saw the highlight on Nov. 21: With an impending spike by Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Philadelphia Eagles rookie lineman Jalen Carter dove between the legs of the center in an attempt to intercept the ball that beelined to the ground. Carter could not make a catch, but it opened the eyes of the football world — was spike defense changed forever?

A St. Augustine High School (San Diego, Calif.) lineman attempted the same thing this weekend, and per video replay, he may have done it successfully.

Steve Montoya, director of programming and strategy at MaxPreps, tweeted the video of Bronx “Boogie” Letuligasenoa diving and arguably catching the ball:

Did he catch it? Did it bounce? The referees ruled it an incomplete pass, and upon video replay, it’s hard to see definitively if the ball bounced or if Letuligasenoa caught it cleanly.

It would have mattered immensely. St. Augustine led St. Bonaventure (Ventura, Calif.) 20-7 entering the fourth quarter, but St. Bonaventure had cut the deficit to seven. St. Augustine had punted the ball deep in its own territory with 14 seconds left instead of running out more of the clock and taking a safety, and after a short punt, the Seraphs had a chance to complete the comeback and win the Division 1-A Regional Finals.

Immediately after the spike, St. Bonaventure completed a trick-play double pass for a touchdown and made the game-winning PAT with no time left on the clock.

St. Bonaventure won 21-20, and with how close Letuligasenoa’s diving interception attempt was to changing the game and postseason, it may continue to increase in popularity.

Carter said he got the idea from seeing a high school player do the same, and it has been done successfully at the high school level. ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports linked to two videos of such occurrences (here and here).

A little more clearly, and Letuligasenoa would have joined the list of successful spike preventions.

Instead, the Seraphs had their own trick play up their sleeve to get the win and advance to the championship, where they will play against Folsom (Calif.).

More:

USA TODAY High School Sports Stars of the Week: Bo Walker, Jeremy Hecklinski, Brandon White, Massillon defense, Landon Frey

WATCH: Chiefs execute insane double flea flicker vs. Raiders

Watch the #Chiefs pull off this insane double flea flicker against the #Raiders in Week 12

Andy Reid got deep in his bag of tricks to help the Kansas City Chiefs even the score of their Week 12 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders. Just before halftime, Reid dialed up an insane double flea flicker to push the ball deep into Raiders territory.

Reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes first tossed the ball to Isiah Pacheco who lateraled to receiver Richie James. James pitched the ball back to Mahomes who immediately threw the ball downfield to Travis Kelce, who managed to get Kansas City inside Las Vegas’ 10-yard line.

Reid’s trickery paid off on this play, but if Kansas City has to resort to more tomfoolery to sustain its offense in this game, the Chiefs could be headed for another loss.

Fans will have to stay tuned to see if Kansas City can maintain its momentum in the second half to earn the Chiefs their eighth win of the 2023 season.

Ohio team wins football game on last-second hook-and-ladder

Westerville Central trailed by three in the final seconds, but they pulled out a hook-and-ladder to score a touchdown of about 7 yards to win.

Friday was the night of trick-play game-winners in the world of high school football.

In a four-overtime game in Georgia, Loganville High School went for a bewildering over-the-head pass that somehow worked and won the game. Meanwhile, about 600 miles north, Westerville Central High School in Ohio was performing its own trick play in regulation.

Trailing by three with 5.1 seconds left on the clock and standing more than  70 yards away from the end zone, Westerville Central couldn’t play for an overtime battle against Westerville North. They had to go for it all on the last second. Instead of a Hail Mary, the Warhawks called upon the hook-and-ladder play.

It worked to perfection. According to the Columbus Dispatch, senior wide receiver Jacob Harris caught the ball around the 42-yard line and lateraled it to senior receiver Kobi Davis. Davis had room to operate and put on a burst of speed to get by the closest defender, who had paused briefly when it looked like Harris was getting tackled.

Davis outpaced all the defenders for a touchdown of about 73 yards to call game. Final score: 23-20.

Westerville Central is in the winner’s category after going just 2-9 last season. They’ll look to carry the momentum forward better than last season, when the team opened with a similarly close 17-14 victory over Westerville North but lost the next seven games. If anything can get a team rolling, it’s a hook-and-ladder to win the game.

[polldaddy poll=11182379]

Cruel Deception: This fake injury trick play led to an easy touchdown

“All warfare is based on deception.”

“All warfare is based on deception.”

So said Sun Tzu in his timeless strategic bestseller “The Art of War,” read the world over by armchair generals and some high school football coaches, apparently.

One coach came up with a pretty devious trick play this past weekend that made the cut on SportsCenter NEXT. Watch this player limp over to the sideline faking an injury – only to break towards the end zone when the ball was snapped and score an easy, uncontested touchdown.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ChIH3-glSIp/?hl=en

Some fans will no doubt cry foul and say this isn’t what this level of the sport is supposed to be about. It is what it is, though. These kinds of plays only work when the opposing coach doesn’t prepare their team right.

That being said, we understand where they’re coming from: it’s a cheap tactic, and the usually-sporting Predator probably wouldn’t approve.

Isn’t that what really matters?

[lawrence-related id=101498027]

[listicle id=101497889]

Broncos practiced Philly Special ‘a couple of times,’ never at full speed last week

The Broncos practiced their ‘Philly Special’ a few times last week, but not at full speed, according to QB Drew Lock.

Facing a fourth-and-goal situation from the two-yard line against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur called a “Philly Special,” a trick play that has a wide receiver throw the ball to the quarterback.

Mike Boone, the team’s third-string running back, took the ball from quarterback Drew Lock and ran left, giving a pitch to Kendall Hinton, the team’s fourth-string wide receiver. Hinton then looked to pass to Lock, who was open, but there was too much pressure in Hinton’s face for him to get off a timely, accurate throw.

Lock managed to catch Hinton’s pass, but he was tackled well short of the goal line and Denver turned the ball over on downs.

“I thought, from my perspective, Hinton did a heck of a job just being able to get the ball out,” Lock said after the game. “When they’re bringing two guys off that edge, they had a good call against it.

“We were hoping just to have an end and act like a zone read and pull it off. We had a couple of guys coming off the edge, hoping we would get it out, and try to punch it in after we catch it. Good call by them. Good defense by them.”

Lock said the team practiced the play “a couple of times” last week leading up to the game, but because the Broncos had a COVID-19 outbreak that sidelined 12 players, Denver did not have any full-speed practices.

“Never full speed this week; we didn’t really have practice,” Lock said. “We worked on it a couple times, hit it a couple of times.”

Lock injured his right shoulder earlier in the game and left for one series to get a shot before returning. After returning, the Broncos ran a quarterback sneak with Lock to pick up a first down and then later called a pass play to Lock that resulted in another hit on the quarterback.

Those kind of decisions from Denver’s offensive staff help explain why Shurmur is expected to be on the hot seat when Black Monday arrives next week.

[listicle id=670238]

Follow the Broncos Wire Podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts

[listicle id=670075]