Westbrook Takes It to the HOUSE!

The Jacksonville Jaguars were beaten at home today by the Washington Redskins, 16-13.  The most exciting play of the first half was likely Dede Westbrook's (#12) punt return just before halftime.  The Redskins faced a 4th and 6 at their own 22-yard line with about 23 seconds left in the first half.  Punter Tress Way (#5) is waiting for the snap in the screen capture below (click on image for a larger view).

Though the average force during the collision between a punter's shoe and the ball is in the neighborhood of a quarter ton, the maximum force reaches about a ton.  The collision time is less than 10 ms, but the maximum force happens over a much shorter time interval than that.  Check out Way's punt (click on image for a larger view).

The ball looks to have been kicked just past the Washington 12-yard line.  The punt had a hang time of 4.3 s, but the punt could have used just a couple tenths of a second more hang time.  That would have allowed Washington's coverage to get a little farther down the field.  Another half second could have put the coverage about 4 or 5 yards closer.

Jacksonville's Dede Westbrook caught the ball on the Jaguars 27-yard line, which meant the punt traveled about 61 yards in the air.  Check out where Westbrook caught the ball (click on image for a larger view).

Westbrook then turned on the jets and ran down the right sideline at a speed that prevented the Washington pursuit from picking the best angles for tackles.  He hit a top speed of 21.9 mph, which he was able to stay close to for about 25 yards in the middle of his return.  Usain Bolt once hit a top speed of 27.8 mph, but 22 mph in the NFL, with pads and helmet on, is definitely an elite speed.  Check out the screen capture I got of Westbrook running nearly 22 mph (click on the image for a larger view).

An easy conversion to remember is 15 mph = 22 ft/s (exactly).  Westbrook's near 22 mph is over 32 ft/s.  An athletic and fit lineman running 15 mph next to Westbrook running nearly 22 mph loses 10 feet every second.  That's why tackling angles are so important.

Something curious happened at the end of the run.  Washington's Byron Marshall (#34) looked to have a perfect tackling line on Westbrook.  Check out the action just after Westbrook crossed the Washington 20-yard line (click on image for a larger view).

Marshall actually put a hit on Jacksonville's Rashad Greene (#13) instead of closing in on Westbrook.  Look at the screen capture below (click on image for a larger view).

It looks like Marshall was blocking Greene out of bounds at about the Washington 14-yard line!  I've looked at the video several times, and I simply can't figure out what Marshall was doing.  Westbrook turned left where Marshall's "block" occurred and scored easily (click on image for a larger view). 

The Redskins got the game-winning field goal as time expired, but Jacksonville fans were treated to a great punt return by Dede Westrbook.  I analyzed his return for TuneIn's 1st & Goal Check Down segment.  Chuck Nice of Playing with Science joined me on the show.  Click here for the audio of our segment.