Indianapolis Colts ‘Trick’ Play Confuses Media, Fans, Patriots & Themselves

Late in the third, the Colts tried to fool the Pats with an unusual formation on a fourth-and-three punt, but New England adjusted and made the stop, regaining the ball on the Colts’ 35-yard line – promptly marching to a quick touchdown for a 34-21 lead.

Seriously, what else could possibly describe that thing?

“The whole idea there was on fourth-and-3 or less, we shift to an alignment to where we could catch them misaligned”, Pagano told reporters after the game. With most of the offensive line set up near the right sideline, Indy snapped the ball to Colt Anderson, who was immediately tackled for a 1-yard loss that gave the Patriots the ball at the Colts 35.

“I think we showed that we can play with anyone”, Pagano said. “I take full responsibility on that, and I didn’t do a good enough job getting that communicated to the guys”.

The Patriots also have piled up a franchise-record 183 points through five games – 1 more than they had through five games in 2007.

Still confused? Yeah, me too.

Stampede Blue’s Josh Wilson shares a few thoughts on Chuck Pagano’s fake punt call.

What McCourty – like everybody else on the planet – wasn’t prepared for, however, was for Colts center Griff Whalen to actually snap the ball. “It’s a play where you try to take advantage of numbers”. We’ll take a look at the film tomorrow and get it figured out. But he did, and the play not only failed, it went down as one of the more boneheaded moments in recent National Football League history.

When it comes to any trick play, the first decision-making principle is risk-reward. Shooting themselves in the foot with a botched special teams trick play isn’t exactly doing themselves any favors.

As a result, the Colts turned it over on downs, leading to a Pats’ touchdown six plays later.

“If you haven’t seen the freakish and hilarious play that has been dubbed “Fourth and Fail”, “The Snapfu”, “#PuntGate” and “The Worst NFL Play Ever”, I’ll fill you in.

“We were going to be aggressive”, Pagano said. “We were going to attack this football team”.

The Patriots capitalized with an 11-yard touchdown catch by LeGarrette Blount, giving the visitors a 34-21 lead. “Their punter ran a sweep against Tennessee a couple weeks ago, so that’s something they’ve done in the past”. So, yeah, it’s something they have done in the past. They brought the gunner in to snap the ball so he would’ve been an eligible receiver, so we had to cover him.

We’ve now had a chance to breathe a little bit since the play call, and it’s still not a good call. Pagano was coach Kline, and Bill Belichick was Red Bayou. With one play, he has gone from nervous to nearly certainly fired.

“It had nothing to do with this game”, Pagano said.