Cincinnati Bengals: Comparing Huber’s To Other Great Fakeouts

Multi-Fake Extravaganza

You may not have gotten to see this one (I hadn’t), but wow is it an awesome watch.

What Makes It Great

• Up until the punter begins running, everything about his motion screams that this is a normal punt.
• Not only is it a fake, but it is a multi-level deception. Motioning one player for an expected end-around on the initial fake draws away the defenders, leaving an extremely clear path for the punter once he fakes the kicking motion.
• The behind-the-back motion with the ball was possibly even more adept than Huber’s; while Huber was clearly fluid, he didn’t get the full-on kicking motion added at the end to really make it flourish.
• Blocking was excellent all the way down the field.
• The punter switched his direction well to help set up his blocks, especially in the last 20 yards.
• He finished the run off in the end zone.
• It came early in the game with the score at 0-0; teams are often pretty conservative, so that sort of call takes some gumption, even if this was a preseason game.

What Holds It Back

• It was the preseason, so this didn’t end up counting towards the meaningful standings.

Final Verdict: 10/10

Even with it meaning nothing to the regular season standings, the play itself was simply so awesomely exciting and expertly completed that it can’t legitimately be faulted.