Ridley Jukes His Way to an Easy Score!

The Atlanta Falcons lost a nail-biter to the Cincinnati Bengals today, 37-36.  Among the thrills in the game was the play of Falcons rookie wide receiver, Calvin Ridley (#17).  Just after the start of the 4th quarter, Ridley showed off one of his moves, letting everyone know that he's got a great shot at long NFL career.  The Falcons had 1st and 10 on the Bengals' 30-yard line.  Ridley was lined up on the far right side of the Falcons' line, just inside the big 30 on the turf (click on image for a larger view).

You can see Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (#2) about to take the snap.  Lined up across from Ridley is Bengals' cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick (#27).

After the snap, Ridley ran about 3.5 yards, and then initiated motion toward the right sideline.  The screen capture below shows Ridley a little further along in his juke (click on image for a larger view).

You can see Ridley's back as he's facing the right sideline.  Kirkpatrick has taken the bait!  The screen capture below shows that it's all over for Kirkpatrick (click on image for a larger view).

In the upper left of the image, you see Ridley already running toward the end zone.  Matt Ryan is enjoying perfect pocket protection and has a great view of his receiver getting open.  Kirkpatrick not only got schooled by Ridley, he got schooled by Isaac Newton!  When he bit on the juke, his linear momentum was toward the sideline.  He needed a big net, external force to stop that linear momentum and turn him back toward Ridley.

Timing was perfect as Ryan fired the all at about 50 mph, nearly 30 degrees above the horizontal (click on the image below).

Ryan threw from the 36-yard line at the right hash mark.  The ball went about 7 yards above the turf at its maximum height.  Look where Ridley was when Ryan threw the ball (click on the image for a larger view).

Ridley was just crossing the 20-yard line, about to hit a speed of 18 mph.  He didn't have to reach his top speed because he was so wide open, and because the pass was perfectly thrown.  You can see that Kirkpatrick is already badly beat.  Ridley caught the pass on the fly at the 5-yard line (click on the image for a larger view).

Think about the timing on the play.  Ryan aimed for a spot 15 yards ahead of Ridley.  Ryan knew his receiver's speed.  No Bengal was within 6 yards of Ridley when he made the catch, so he could waltz into the end zone (click on the image for a larger view).

It was Ridley's second touchdown of the day.  Unfortunately for the Falcons, they failed to make the two-point conversion, and lost by one.

Isaac Newton helped us understand how planets like Mars and Venus -- and Earth! -- go around the sun.  He also helped us understand how Ridley ran around Kirkpatrick on his way to the end zone.  Perfect timing in the NFL and juking physics are a joy to watch!

Chuck Nice of Playing with Science joined me on today's Check-Down piece for TuneIn's 1st & Goal.  Click here for our segment.