en fuego

yep

if he throws to lead Tuman, he gets the first down and maybe into the endzone

Tuman had to slow way down and wait for that ball

john h

You are absolutely correct. The receiver had to wait much to long for that slow lob pass to get to him. Had a quick pass been made the receiver very well have made a TD. The guy who has the arm for this as he was a former all state high school QB and played some college QB is Boldin. Of course with him in the game the defense would know something was up. I still do no like that call in that situation. Your idea of St Pierre as a regular holder makes a lot of sense if he is up to it. It would open up a lot of possibilities. He should have good hands as a QB but I would assume they surely must have tried him at this during practice. It makes to much sense not to. It would give him real game time experience even if he was only the holder and would open up a world of gadget plays. I think a number of teams use backup QB's as holders. Good thinking on your part.

daves

It's understandable that people want to see a better athlete holding on place kicks to enable a more realistic chance at converting fakes. But every time this issue is brought up, as it has been many times here, the same drawbacks have been pointed out:

1. If a player is designated as the third or "emergency" QB, and that player enters the game at any point before the fourth quarter, the first two quarterbacks cannot re-enter the game at any position. If three QBs are activated and none of them is is designated as an "emergency" QB, then one fewer position remains on the active roster for other players.

2. Whoever practices with the kicking team as the holder will be precluded from most opportunities to practice at his usual position.

3. The punter likely has less chance of getting injured than any other player on the team. Using any other player as the holder increases the likelihood that the holder will be injured playing his normal position, thus requiring a switch to a new holder who hasn't practiced much and is less familiar to the kicker.

Of course, some teams have decided that the benefits outweigh the costs. Probably the best option is to find a punter who, in addition to holding on place kicks, can run or throw pretty well - or to put the ball in the hands of someone other than the holder on fake place kicks.

One of the biggest factors in making a fake place kick successful is the element of surprise - and the Cardinals certainly had that going for them on Sunday. I actually loved the idea to attempt a fake after being "iced" on an actual kick attempt! Too bad the distance to gain, the personnel involved, and the execution prevented them from converting.

...dave