Cardinals Stun Buccaneers With Wild Fake Punt Conversion

When the Arizona Cardinals hired former Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury to lead their rebuilding franchise, the move was met with some skepticism. Primarily, fans wanted to know if his “Air Raid” offense would translate to the NFL. The jury is still out after 10 games, but Kingsbury’s team is still turning heads with trick plays when they should be punting.

Sunday afternoon, the Cardinals stunned the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with a perfectly-executed fake punt. However, this wasn’t a simple snap to one of the special teams’ members in order for him to run forward for a few yards. Instead, the Cardinals went with some extended trickery that involved a reverse and then a toss back to the punter, who lofted the ball downfield to the receiver.

Linebacker Ezekiel Turner took the direct snap on the play in question, ran to his left, tossed the ball to receiver Trent Sherfield, who then gave it back to punter Andy Lee. The veteran then found receiver Pharoh Cooper for the first down.

Following the play, there was a penalty flag on the field, which created concern that the play would be negated. However, the Buccaneers had actually been called for pass interference, which would have given the Cardinals a first down even if the throw was incomplete.

Trailing by only three points in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals needed to pay off the trick play, and they did just that. Rookie Kyler Murray completed the drive with a touchdown pass to second-year receiver Christian Kirk, the third scoring connection of the day for the two youngsters. This provided a 27-23 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

However, the lead did not last. The Cardinals took over late in the quarter following a Buccaneers fumble, but Murray threw an interception and gave possession right back to his opponents. Quarterback Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay offense capitalized on the mistake, driving down the field and scoring what would be the game-winning touchdown.

The Arizona Cardinals ultimately lost, falling to 3-6-1 in Kingsbury’s first season as head coach. Despite the late collapse, this fake punt and the subsequent touchdown provided hope among Cardinals fans that the future would be bright under the young head coach and his roster full of first and second-year players. Although there will certainly be some growing pains.

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