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Fansided

Cincinnati Bengals: Comparing Huber’s To Other Great Fakeouts

By Kenn Korb

CHICAGO, IL - SEPTEMBER 08: Kevin Huber #10 of the Cincinnati Bengals punts against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on September 8, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The Bears defeated the Bengals 24-21. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL - SEPTEMBER 08: Kevin Huber #10 of the Cincinnati Bengals punts against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on September 8, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. The Bears defeated the Bengals 24-21. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
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BALTIMORE, MD – NOVEMBER 27: Punter Sam Koch #4 of the Baltimore Ravens holds the ball for a safety against inside linebacker Nick Vigil #59 of the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth quarter at M&T Bank Stadium on November 27, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
BALTIMORE, MD – NOVEMBER 27: Punter Sam Koch #4 of the Baltimore Ravens holds the ball for a safety against inside linebacker Nick Vigil #59 of the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth quarter at M&T Bank Stadium on November 27, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Baltimore’s Non-Punt

To end, we get to what is possibly the best and worst of the bunch, depending how you look at it. Bengals fans should know it well, seeing as it came against this team last season.

What Makes It Great

  • It follows the rulebook precisely, despite being about as obscure of a usage of the intent as there probably is.
  • The line held with reckless abandon — but that was part of the plan.
  • In a close game, it runs off any chance of a single play being available to Cincinnati despite there being 11 seconds left on the clock.
  • It provided a win for the team.
  • There was just about nothing their opponent could do to stop them.

What Holds It Back

  • It’s so boringly efficient that it feels wrong; it left zero that the opposing team could do it what appears to be an unfair way.

Final Verdict: 7/10

The fake is so good that it doesn’t exist, and it used the rules to the letter of the law to secure a necessary win in a close game against a rival. What more can you want, really? Well, some excitement would be nice.

This play did everything right in terms of giving Baltimore it’s best possible outcome from the play, yes, but it in essence sucks the soul out of the game to do so. The best term I can think of is ruthless efficiency, but even that fails to live up to the lack of feeling here. There’s no beauty, no fun, just results.

What helps the vast majority of plays in sports so amazing is that even the best-planned actions take a level of physical skill and timing to complete which leaves some degree of opening for them to possibly fail.

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Once the snap got to the punter, it was nearly impossible outside of multiple colossal mistakes by the Ravens for Cincinnati to do anything to stop what was happening. No planning could have beat this design, and that removes practically all the potential satisfaction for any non-Ravens-affiliated viewer. Results matter most, but style is important in excitement as well, so it can only rank so highly in this sort of exercise.

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