John Fox has been in the NFL for 23 years. He has 358 games under his belt. Sunday presented a first for the long term coach, however.
When Virgil Green recovered the onside kick, that was the first time Fox’s team recovered an onside kick.
Down by 8, with less than three minutes to go, the Broncos only chance to win the game was put into the hands of their special teams. Matt Prater booted the ball into the air.
“It’s like a good golf shot,” John Fox said. “You’ve got to hit it right, you’ve got to hit it the right distance, the right elevation.”
The Green Bay Packers executed a successful onside kick against the Broncos in week 4. It was a momentum changer and propelled the Packers to a 26-point win.
Fox knew how about it in theory, yet he never experienced its success first hand until Sunday. The Broncos practiced it a lot during the bye week.
“I thought it was a well executed kick much like the one we were on the other side of,” Fox said.
The air born ball seemed like it was controlled by the Dolphins all the way until the Broncos coverage team converged.
“It was a great effort by our guys covering it to knock it loose because they (Miami) actually had it first,” Fox explained.
Now that Fox has one under his belt, perhaps he will be more likely to try the move again.
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