The Los Angeles Rams threw away any chance they had of coming back to beat the Buffalo Bills on Sunday when they attempted a fake punt deep in their own territory late in the game. That isn’t stopping head coach Jeff Fisher from standing by the decision.
While speaking to reporters on Monday, Fisher said he would try the trick play again if he had a chance to go back in time.
“I know you guys are curious about the punt,” he said, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “I’d do it all over again if I had the opportunity. They made the play, we didn’t. But that’s the way we are wired, that’s our fabric and that’s taken us a long way.”
This was the situation: The Rams had the ball trailing 23-19 with just under four minutes remaining in the game. It was 4th-and-5 at their own 23, and they decided to go with a direct snap to upback Bradley Marquez, who gained just two yards and was stuffed well short.
On the ensuing drive for the Bills, Tyrod Taylor put the game away with a touchdown pass to Marquise Goodwin. And to add insult to injury, Rex Ryan indicated Buffalo knew the fake punt was coming.
“It was amazing,” Ryan said. “Like I said, [special-teams coordinator Danny] Crossman had us all ready, man. There was no question about it. We were actually wanting them to fake the whole day because we thought we were prepared for it.”
Fisher’s Rams are now 3-2, so they’re not in horrible shape. That said, he should be able to admit that calling a fake punt in that situation was not wise. We know he has some unorthodox coaching methods, but that just made no sense. A coach’s job is to put his team in the best situation to win. A fake punt from your own 23 doesn’t do that. If Fisher was so against punting, he should have just gone for it outright.
