Botched Fake Punt Was Chung's Brainstorm

Everyone can let New England Patriots coach Bill Beichick off the hook for the fake punt gone wrong late in the second quarter. Safety Patrick Chung figured it was a bright idea to call for the failed play, not Belichick. Patriots fans can save their vitriol for Chung. He might get the Bill Buckner treatment since it came out  tha he was solely responsible for the mishap. Chung fumbled the snap and lost a yard on the play which led to a Mark Sanchez to Braylon Edwards touchdown.

"We trust the decision Patrick makes," punter Zoltan Mesko said. "It just didn’t work out in that particular occasion. That’s why the coaches trust him to run it, and that's why they give him the green light, if he has it."


The only play call call Chung should be making is on the defensive side of the ball or on a special teams blocking assignment. Not on whether to call a fake punt or not. Just because the Patriots had numbers on the line in their favor doesn't mean you make that call. What kind of daredevil crap is that?

"Of course there are regrets. It's not [head coach] Bill [Belichick] or [special teams coach] Scott O'Brien," Chung said. "None of them. I take full responsibility. I saw the look we had. I made the call. It didn't work out for us."


Chung admitted that it was his call and not (special teams coach) Scott O'Brien or Belichick's and has taken full responsibilty. I applaud him for manning up in this situation. It could've been very easy to leave Scott and Bill holding the bag. Considering the non descript career Chung has had so far, I might've done that. if he's lucky enough to be around next season, maybe he ought to burn a timeout before making a ridiculous call such as this one.