Daily Madden: Special Teams Deception Sinks Seattle
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - The St. Louis Rams used two trick plays to beat the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks 28-26 Sunday. No one expected a Rams victory.
"That's probably what (Rams coach) Jeff Fisher was thinking, that we're not as good as Seattle, so we're going to have to steal some," John Madden told the KCBS Radio morning crew. "And the best place to steal something is in special teams."
The first trick play was a fake punt return, when the Rams fooled the Seahawks into thinking another player was taking the punt. Stedman Bailey caught it on the other side of the field and ran for a touchdown.
"I've never had it done to me when I was coaching, and I never saw it when I was broadcasting, that I knew of," Madden said. "That's probably been called before I'm sure, but it didn't work."
On a Rams fourth down near the end of the game, with Seattle poised to get the ball back with good field position, the Rams punter threw the ball for a first down to help seal the win.
"The more in over your head you are, the more you think about doing those things. If you're the better team, you would never try it... (When) you know Seattle is better than you are, then you think of a lot of those things." (7:30)
(Listen to the John Madden segment live weekday mornings at 8:15 and Monday and Friday mornings at 9:15 on KCBS All News 740 AM/106.9 FM.)