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mightybuck
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Still trying to get a handle on points in the CFL

If a team is down by one point late in the game and they have the ball, what can they do to get one point to force a overtime?
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Dan_Payne_fan!!
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they can punt it out of the endzone for a single point
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Rammer
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mightybuck wrote:Still trying to get a handle on points in the CFL

If a team is down by one point late in the game and they have the ball, what can they do to get one point to force a overtime?
Most teams will set up for a FG and try and angle the ball into the corners that are closest to the goal line, from 45 yards out or more, inside that of course you may as well try the FG.
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Dan_Payne_fan!! wrote:they can punt it out of the endzone for a single point
You mean kick it through the end zone for the single point.

Or of course punt it out of bounds on the sidelines in the end zone for a single or tackle a punt returner in the end zone for the single.

In the CFL, teams will sometimes put a kicker back into the end zone and punt it back out.
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Dan_Payne_fan!!
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TheLionKing wrote:
Dan_Payne_fan!! wrote:they can punt it out of the endzone for a single point
You mean kick it through the end zone for the single point.

Or of course punt it out of bounds on the sidelines in the end zone for a single or tackle a punt returner in the end zone for the single.

In the CFL, teams will sometimes put a kicker back into the end zone and punt it back out.
haha yea thanks :)
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Dan_Payne_fan!!
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TheLionKing wrote:
Dan_Payne_fan!! wrote:they can punt it out of the endzone for a single point
You mean kick it through the end zone for the single point.

Or of course punt it out of bounds on the sidelines in the end zone for a single or tackle a punt returner in the end zone for the single.

In the CFL, teams will sometimes put a kicker back into the end zone and punt it back out.
haha yea thanks :)
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mightybuck
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In the CFL, teams will sometimes put a kicker back into the end zone and punt it back out
I dont understand that? - kick the ball back out ?
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B.C.FAN
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mightybuck wrote:Still trying to get a handle on points in the CFL

If a team is down by one point late in the game and they have the ball, what can they do to get one point to force a overtime?
There are a lot of possibilities, including:
1. Punt into the end zone, not returned across the goal line.
2. Punt through the end zone. The Lions tried this unsuccessfully in Saskatchewan in overtime of a tied game a year or two ago.
3. Punt out of bounds in the end zone.
4. Missed field goal that meets the conditions of points 1, 2 or 3 above.
5. Open-field kick that meets the conditions of points 1, 2 or 3 above. This can also be recovered by the kicker or an onside player for a touchdown. The Lions have tried this several times by passing downfield to Jason Clermont, who turns and tries to kick it into the end zone. I can't recall it ever working for the Lions, but Calgary executed such as play for a touchdown at B.C. Place a few years ago. The touchdown was nullified by a questionable no-yards call.
5. Dribbled ball. I've never seen this executed in the CFL but a player can dribble the ball down the field with his feet like a soccer ball. This is useful when there is a fumble and several opponents are around and there is no time on the clock to simply fall on it and gain possession. The rules of the kicking game apply as above except that a dribbled ball that hits the goalpost remains in play.

Of course, there's also a lot of gadget plays that can result in long-range touchdowns. And an open-field drop kick counts as a field goal if it goes through the uprights. Otherwise it's considered a missed field goal and can score a single point.

Then there's the kickback by the defending team and all the mayhem it can cause, including a second kick into the end zone, a return for a touchdown or a no-yards penalty that would give the original kicking team a free play from scrimmage, which could begin the cycle again. I've watched the CFL for 45 years and have seen most but not all of these scenarios. There are probably more that I haven't listed. I shake my head whenever someone suggests that Canadian football should eliminate the single point altogether or on missed field goals. That would take a lot of the excitement out of the kicking game.
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You get a single point for tackling an opponent in his endzone on any missed field goal or punt return. If the ball is kicked through the endzone and not returned, a single point is awarded and the ball is spotted on the 35 (except on kickoffs when no point is awarded if the ball goes through the endzone, and the ball is spotted on 25, I believe.)

The punt or kick returner has the option of kicking the ball out of his endzone rather than running it out, or conceding the single point by going down on one knee. A returner would usually only kick the ball out of the endzone after time has expired on the clock at the end of the game, to preserve a 1 point win or tie (by not giving up the single point). After he kicks it out, the ball could be received and kicked back into the endzone, to try another single point attempt...this has actually happened in the CFL!
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That's the beauty of the CFL. There are so many permutations on how you can score.... and often does ! Don't forget to drop it through the uprights for 3 points.
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Lions4ever
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mightybuck wrote:
In the CFL, teams will sometimes put a kicker back into the end zone and punt it back out
I dont understand that? - kick the ball back out ?
Exactly.
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Lions4ever wrote:
mightybuck wrote:
In the CFL, teams will sometimes put a kicker back into the end zone and punt it back out
I dont understand that? - kick the ball back out ?
Exactly.
Punts can happen "on the fly" so to speak. Since any ball that is kicked from the field of play into the opponent's endzone — and not returned back out by the receiving team — results in the scoring of one point (there's one exception I've noted at the end of this post*), you will occasionally see, as a scoring tactic, punts that aren't kicked directly from scrimmage as some posters have already noted. Utility man Bret Anderson, who has handled our kickoffs on and off for many years and seen spot duty as a receiver, was occasionally our go-to guy as the open-field punter for this sort of play.

Not that I watch every single CFL game, but I haven't noticed this play much in recent years (maybe because there have been fewer applicable scenarios?). More commonly (and more widely applicable), I've noticed a slight variation of this play where at least one member of the offence is assigned to remain behind the "punter" during the open field kick. This puts him onside — not subject to the no-yards rules — and if he recovers the ball in the end zone the offence scores a TD (the punter himself is always onside BTW, whether the kick is from scrimmage or on-the-fly in this scenario).

Someone else commented on this scenario occurring in a home game vs Calgary; it happened at least three or four years ago during the one year (2004?) when Matt Dunigan (current TSN analyst) was their head coach. I remember the isolated moment very clearly because I was sitting quite low in the corner between the dressing rooms and the Cgy bench, and as everyone headed to the DRs, I witnessed MD grow absolutely livid with the referee who ruled that the player recovering the ball in the endzone was not onside. Video evidence later vindicated Dunigan but I don't remember the league at the time issuing any mea culpas. IIRC this happened the last year before the league introduced video review and this incident would have been among the ones that fomented the current review policy. Calgary would have won that game under the current status quo.

*The one exception when a ball kicked into the endzone does NOT score a single is on a kickoff that gets kicked into and then through the endzone without being touched by the receiving team. Presumably the rationale is that the game clock doesn't start ticking on a KO until the receiving team touches the ball, so technically, play is not underway — nor can any scoring occur — until such time.
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mightybuck wrote:
In the CFL, teams will sometimes put a kicker back into the end zone and punt it back out
I dont understand that? - kick the ball back out ?

Yes... if it is the last play and they want to avoid a loss by one point - maybe not a tie now that they play OT - they will punt back out of the end zone.

Years ago when their were not kickers who just kicked you'd see guys back there who also played FB or DB too and they'd be great to kick it back out only to have the punt team kick it back in. I remember years back Harvey Wylie DB for the Stamps punting it out about 4 time in the same series. Time has faded the actual events.. maybe it was just twice...lol.

If I were the Lions I'd spend a few minutes in practice - either at the end or as a warm up working on that stuff and also "the play" that Joe Kapp's UofC - Berkley ran in practice all the time only to execute it like this in real life:

http://www.joekapp.com/

These hokey drills energize a team and prepare them for the time they need that sort of against all odds score.

When I coached winning youth baseball teams we practiced the "hot box" and these kids were great at beating it and also great at shutting it down and also on double and triple plays - all things we went over and over much like repetitive batting practice.
I found that batting practice for the guy not hitting got boring but we 'd do the hot box competitively between 3rd and home and this would end practice on a high note.

I am not sure which CFL teams do this but one post mentions the punt and run play that Calgary under Dunnigan got shafted on vs BC at the dome. I think he practiced it.
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I was at a playoff game in Hamilton in the Sixties, Ticats and Argos were tied with seconds left. Argos attempted a FG and it went wide. TiCats had their punter and back up punter, quarterback (who could punt) and the field goal kicker in the end zone. When the kick went wide, the TiCat player got the ball but was too deep in the end zone to run it out so he punted the ball out of the end zone. The ball went to the Argo punter (of all people on the field he was the last guy a TiCat fan wanted to see get the ball) who then kicked the ball back into the TiCat end zone. This time the ball was fielded by the TiCat QB who ran the ball out of the end zone all the way down the field for a TiCat TD. However in those days there was no blocking allowed on punt returns so a flag was thrown, no TD, but the refs ruled that QB Bernie Faloney ran the ball out of the end zone before the first illegal block was thrown.

The game then went in to overtime and the Cats won and went on to the Grey Cup. Two people in the stands and one at home watching on TV had heart attacks during that play!
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mightybuck
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Years ago when their were not kickers who just kicked you'd see guys back there who also played FB or DB too and they'd be great to kick it back out only to have the punt team kick it back in
sorry everyone - but for a life long USA football style of play guy, that is funny to me. kick it in - kick it out - kick it back in again :lol:
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