The Indianapolis Colts lost to the New England Patriots 34-27 on Sunday night and attempted a trick play that instead turned into an absurd formation that had everyone confused and laughing at the same time.
On fourth-and-3 in the third quarter, all but two Colts players lined up on the right side of the field, almost completely outside the numbers and two yards off the line of scrimmage.
The attempt to confuse the Patriots, and perhaps try to draw them offsides, failed.
Miserably.
Instead, Griff Whalen, who was essentially lined up at center, snapped the ball to Colt Anderson, who was swallowed up by Brandon Bolden, giving the Patriots the ball back.
So what were they thinking? Well heres an explanation from coach Chuck Pagano:
“The whole idea there was on fourth-and-3 or less, we shift to an alignment to where we could catch them misaligned,” Pagano said. “They tried to sub some people in. Catch them with more men on the field — 12 men on the field. And if you get a certain look, you have three (or) two yards to make a play. “We shifted over and I didn’t do a good enough job coaching it during the week. Alignment wise, we weren’t lined up correctly and we had a communication breakdown between the quarterback and snapper. That’s on me.”
“I take full responsibility…” Colts HC Chuck Pagano explains reasoning behind 4th down play gone wrong. #NEvsIND http://t.co/pezoDIQX0K — NFL (@NFL) October 19, 2015
