“It Was Pretty Dope”
September 21st, 2017
Cameron Lynch talks about the fumble recovery he had against the Bears. (Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com.)
You could call it the play that changed the game.
The Bucs had a drive stalled late in the opening quarter at their own 47-yard line when Charles Sims, on 3rd-and-1, failed to pick up a first down with a run up the middle.
So the Bucs punted.
Not a great punt by Bryan Anger but a great roll down the right sideline. Then, all hell broke loose. The Bears’ Tarik Cohen decided to pick up the ball just as it was about to be blown dead with Bucs defenders surrounding him. Cohen did, and Ryan Smith punched the ball away with Cameron Lynch falling on it.
On the next play, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, hit Mike Evans on a beautiful back-shoulder touchdown pass from 13 yards out, and just like that, the Bucs took a 13-0 lead.
Yesterday, Joe had a chance to talk to Smith and Lynch about the play.
“It was pretty dope,” Smith said. As I was getting to the ball, it looked like [Cohen] was going to try to get it, and we had to make a play.”
Lynch even was a bit surprised Cohen was going to try to field the ball.
“We saw the ball bounce and we saw [Cohen] was kind of curious about it,” Lynch said. “And I was like, ‘Ah, we’re about to get him.’ So he went for it and Ryan punched it out.
“Right place at the right time and I hopped on it and we got the ball back.”
Just eyeballing the play, Joe thought it was one of the dumbest moves he’s ever seen. But Lynch said guys on return teams try to pull off that move more than some realize. Lynch said Pacman Jones with the Bengals is notorious for the same stunt.
“Some guys [will] do that,” Lynch said. “Pacman Jones does that a lot. But hey, [Cohen] made a mistake and we capitalized. He just gambled. He rolled the dice and we came out on top. It was nice.”
Joe doesn’t think it is a stretch to suggest that was a turning point in the game. Between that dumb move and Glennon’s turnovers, the Bears were just doomed.
September 21st, 2017 at 9:10 am
Actually if you watch it….the punt wasn’t that long but it was extremely high….high enough that no PR wanted to field it…..
Our ST are looking pretty good.
September 21st, 2017 at 9:12 am
Cohen is an Undrafted rookie. He wants to prove and on this one, he proved it wrong !
Good for us, as we didn’t start really well on offense.
September 21st, 2017 at 9:23 am
The game was over when Coach Smitty signed the extension to keep this defense GREAT!!!!!!!!
Go Bucs!!!!!!!!!
September 21st, 2017 at 9:50 am
Cohen was drafted
September 21st, 2017 at 9:55 am
Tbbf
He would have fielded it if he could have. It was high but it was extremely short. Cohen had no shot to get to it. He would have loved to fair catch it n save field position. It was the worst punt Ive ever seen by Anger….with the best result tho. Sometimes it bounces your way, then smith makes a great play. Id say it was the most important play of that game. Go Bucs
September 21st, 2017 at 9:57 am
Have to wonder if Tarik Cohen read all the great things written about him after Game 1 and let it go to his head. He came back to ‘rookie status’ real fast this past Sunday.
September 21st, 2017 at 10:10 am
@TBR you beat me to it!
I was going to say it was over for Chicago when we got Swaggy. But you are right once again. Smitty extension sealed our road to the playoffs.
This defense will hold the fort while Jameis calibrates this offense to sniper perfection.
This season has the potential of being better than 2002!
Go Bucs!!!
September 21st, 2017 at 11:01 am
“Right place at the right time” – by design and well executed.
If you ain’t starting – then find a way to make an impact play anyway.
Good job Men!
September 21st, 2017 at 12:38 pm
ooehelldeloxley Says:
September 21st, 2017 at 9:12 am
Cohen is an Undrafted rookie. He wants to prove and on this one, he proved it wrong !
————-
Wrong, he was a 4th round draft pick.
September 21st, 2017 at 2:37 pm
From where I was sitting, it looked like the first bounce was in a pack of players, which included some Bears players. AS it bounced towards Cohen, I thought it might have been touched by a Bears player accidentally and that Cohen had to go after it since it was a live ball. After looking at the reply, I was wrong, but Cohen had to have had a similar angle and may have thought what I did.
Anyway, I am glad that he did!
September 22nd, 2017 at 11:05 am
before you guys jump on it being a “bad” punt, I will have to hear Anger say that it is. These NFL punters are getting so good at hitting weird balls. Check out this film from NFL films. Koch describes attempting just this type of punt, short, towards the sideline, just to cause the returner to make a decision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oZYO0FbZ_A