Sir Purr
Well-known member
- Mar 16, 2019
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What went wrong on punt cover?
It’s safe to say the punt team struggled against the Colts.
On punter Michael Palardy’s first kick of the game, Colts return man Nyheim Hines returned the ball 40 yards and nearly made his way to the end zone. Fewell said that two of members of the cover team fell down, which led to a number of missed tackles. After seeing what Hines could do, Fewell knew to kick away from the threat.
“I know I gave the command for the third punt to be punted out of bounds,” Fewell said, “but the second one was supposed to be punted out of bounds also.”
That’s not what happened though.
“We hit it straight down the middle and it was a seam in that middle,” Fewell explained. “There were several missed tackles, color followed color, which you don’t do on a punt, and obviously, we gave up the big play.”
The result was two punt returns for touchdowns, one from 84 yards and the other from 71.
Despite his instructions, Fewell said he believed Palardy mishit the kicks.
“I know when you try to direction punts, sometimes you don’t take the proper steps,” Fewell said. “You don’t open your hips the right way, then that’s how you can mishit a ball.”