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The Patriots had one of the plays of Week 2 with an incredible blocked FG against the Dolphins. Former NFL punter Pat McAfee suggests a former New England player had something to do with it.
He said on his show this week that the ex-Pat tipped Bill Belichick’s special teams unit off on the snap count, which gave his players an edge. The end result was perfection.
The now viral play is sure to be in every special teams arsenal moving forward.
You can see Brenden Schooler line up wide before timing up the snap count perfectly. Getting a running start from the sideline, he races down the line of scrimmage before laying out to block the kick.
Pat McAfee, who was a special teams star during his playing days in the NFL, broke down the play on his show earlier this week.
He insists that Schooler was reading the holder, not the center actually snapping the football.
“You see [Schooler] standing all the way out there. What’s he eyeballing?” McAfee asks. “Well, he’s looking at the holder, he’s not looking at the snapper… They are looking directly at the holder… Well, what is the indicator?
“Keep an eye out here. He’s going to look back at [kicker Jason] Sanders, ask Sanders if he’s ready, and then very slightly, he’s going to go with a deep breath… That sends Schooler.”
On that deep breath, the holder dips his head a bit, giving the Patriots player the tell. While minor, it must be a tendency that this particular placeholder displays on all field goal attempts.
And how might Bill Belichick and Co. have picked up on that tip? Well, the holder on that blocked FG played for the Patriots just last year.
Jake Bailey punted in Foxborough for four seasons. He also held field goals for New England kickers. McAfee pointed that fact out in his breakdown.
“How in the hell did they know that? Well, this guy right here was the punter and holder for the New England Patriots… Bill Belichick probably self-scouted and asked himself, ‘How has nobody picked up on the fact that this guy does this?’
“There’s not a lot of people that are going to be able to find that particular tell.”
Incredible work by the Patriots.