Saints Ran Fake Punt Right At Fletcher Cox After Seeing His History Of Taking Punt Plays Off On Film

The Saints looked shook and unprepared trailing 14-0 to the Eagles in the first quarter of Sunday’s divisional round game. They might have been shook, but unprepared they were not.

New Orleans ran a risky fake punt which finally got their offense moving, leading to 20 unanswered points. Turns out, it was film study which was integral to the play’s success.

New Orleans recognized on tape that Eagles’ star defensive tackle Fletcher Cox had a tendency to take punt plays off by standing up out of his stance and not pressuring the line. The Saints recognized this, and crafted a play to bullrush Cox with lineman, who would be unlikely to be able to hold his ground standing up straight.

inlineg

The rest is history…