The NFL’s controversial rule change about when a team can substitute its players, the so-called “Rule of 11”, reflects how much has changed in our definition and understanding of what it means to be an athlete.
The “pat mcafee show” is a podcast that discusses the NFL. The episode in question discusses how the league punts on first down whether you like it or not.
Media personality in the sports world During his eight-year career with the Indianapolis Colts, Pat McAfee was an All-Pro punter. During the team’s injury-plagued 2015 season, he came close to becoming the team’s quarterback.
With so many backup quarterbacks playing in 2021, it reminded McAfee and his former head coach Chuck Pagano of this bizarre circumstance, which they discussed on the former punter’s talk program.
The quarterbacks of the Indianapolis Colts had a difficult 2015 NFL season.
Pat McAfee | Andy Lyons/Getty Images | Pat McAfee .
The quarterbacks of the Indianapolis Colts had a difficult time in the 2015 NFL season.
Andrew Luck, the former No. 1 overall choice, had injuries that forced him to miss the 2015 season after playing every game during his first three years in the league.
According to CBS Sports, his first serious injury occurred in Week 3 against the Tennessee Titans. Luck damaged his shoulder and spent the next two weeks rehabbing, despite staying in the game and leading the Colts to a 35-33 comeback victory.
Luck got roughed up in the Colts’ 27-24 victory over the Denver Broncos in Week 9. He continued to play, but after seeing blood in his pee the next day, the young star discovered he had a lacerated kidney and a partly torn abdominal muscle. He was forced to sit out the rest of the season due to the injury.
Matt Hasselbeck, at 40 years old and in the last year of his 17-year NFL career, was Luck’s main backup. In Weeks 4 and 5, as well as Weeks 10 through 16, the seasoned signal-caller took over.
Hasselbeck left the season’s last game with a Grade 1 shoulder separation after 15 pass attempts. The Colts put Charlie Whitehurst on injured reserve with a hamstring injury following the game, according to the Indy Star.
The Colts signed out-of-work quarterbacks Josh Freeman and Ryan Lindley for the season’s last game as a result of the QB MASH unit. The Colts phoned these two quarterbacks when they were playing in the Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL) and driving an Uber in New York City, respectively.
Pat McAfee, a punter, nearly had to play quarterback in the last game of the season.
Despite their quarterback turnovers in 2015, the Indianapolis Colts entered a Week 17 meeting against the Tennessee Titans at 7-8, with a slim chance of reaching the playoffs with a victory and some luck.
To avoid wasting a roster slot on a third quarterback, head coach Chuck Pagano designated punter Pat McAfee as the backup.
With all of the turmoil in Green Bay surrounding the quarterback issue, Pagano and his former player reminisced about McAfee’s game on the Pat McAfee Show as a backup quarterback.
Pagano reminisced about working out Freeman and Lindley for the job and how, unknown to McAfee, the coaching staff intended to start Freeman but give Lindley the two-minute drill package on game day.
When the punter saw Lindley entering the game at the conclusion of the first half, he assumed Freeman was injured and put him in the starting lineup as quarterback. McAfee recalled thinking to himself:
Lindley is a smallish man, and I was familiar with the NFL. We’ve already lost seven quarterbacks on our roster, and if he’s the only one left for the remainder of the game — he was just driving an Uber in New York — I’m f******* taking some snaps here. And, whether you like it or not, we’re probably going to punt on first down. I’m not sure what the play was going to be, but we’re probably going to punt on that one.
Pat McAfee reflects on his experience as a backup quarterback.
Lindley led a touchdown drive just before halftime, and he and Freeman carried the Colts to a 30-24 victory. The squad concluded the season 8-8, but missed out on the playoffs because the Houston Texans won the AFC South by defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 17 to secure the division.
The 2021 NFL season is shaping up to be the year of the backup quarterback. QB
While no club in 2021 has gone through as many quarterbacks as the Indianapolis Colts did in 2015, this season looks to be the year of the backup quarterback.
When Ryan Fitzpatrick of the Washington Football Team went down with a hip injury in Week 1, Taylor Heinicke took over as the backup quarterback. After injuries to Andy Dalton of the Chicago Bears and Jimmy Garoppolo of the San Francisco 49ers, rookies Justin Fields and Trey Lance made their league debuts.
Russell Wilson fractured his finger in a Week 5 Thursday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Chargers, forcing Geno Smith to take over. On TNF two weeks later, Case Keenum took over for an injured Baker Mayfield and led the Cleveland Browns to a 17-14 victory against the Denver Broncos.
However, Week 8 was the true backup bright spot. Cooper Rush led the Dallas Cowboys to a win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football, Trevor Siemian took over for the New Orleans Saints and helped them beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Mike White threw for 405 yards and three touchdowns for the New York Jets, who stunned the Cincinnati Bengals.
Week 9 is shaping up to be similar to Week 8. White and Siemian are anticipated to maintain their jobs for at least another week, while second-year backup Jordan Love will make his first NFL start as a result of Aaron Rodgers’ surprise positive COVID-19 test.
Pro Football Reference provided all stats.
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The “average nfl punt distance” is the average distance that a football team will punt on first down. The average distance for a punt in the NFL is 38 yards.
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