Everyone loves a trick play now and then. Sometimes it’s spectacular, and sometimes it fails miserably.
For the Indianapolis Colts, the latter occurred against the New England Patriots on Sunday night.
After lining up in punt formation on fourth down late in the third quarter, the Colts decided to try and fool the Patriots. It backfired.
With most of Indianapolis’ players shifted up near the right sideline, receiver Griff Whalen snapped the ball to safety Colt Anderson, who was immediately tackled for a 1-yard loss. The Patriots declined an illegal formation penalty, got the ball back at the Colts 35, and promptly scored a touchdown to take a 34-21 lead.
New England went on to win the game, and the play that will dominate highlight shows Monday was a clear turning point.
As one would expect, sports Twitter reacted in hilarious fashion after the botched fake punt (if you can call it that).
With files from Associated Press