Spoken like a true veteran of the NFL, Danny Smith squashed the notion of “chip spot” plays in today’s sitdown with Bob Labriola on Coaches Speak.
“Really what gets me is that it’s an operation. There’s a snap, there’s a hold, there’s a protection, there’s a kick. It’s not an easy thing. It kills me when I hear these guys, ‘chip shot, chip shot, chip shot. We’re 4th and 1, we can’t fall forward for a yard? That’s a chip shot. Our back goes out into the flat, we can’t complete that pass? Why was that ball behind him? What was that ball overthrown? That’s a chip shot.'”
“There ain’t no chip shots in this business. This is a professional business, this is a precision business, this is a production business. Nothing’s easy. And it just takes repetition, repetition, repetition. But I feel for him. This term ‘chip shot,’ I could throw the TV out the window when I hear these guys. There ain’t no chip shots in this business.”
Whew. You go, Glen Coco.
Smith was obviously referencing Blair Walsh’s missed 27 yarder, playing a role in costing the Minnesota Vikings losing to the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday.
That in mind, knowing the line between success and failure in the NFL is razor thin, Smith praised Chris Boswell’s 4/4 performance, including the game-winning 35 yard field goal.
“Chris was outstanding. He deserves the credit. Again, the operation. People take for granted the snap Greg Warren had to do. That hold Jordan Berry had to handle…it didn’t surprise me one bit. [Boswell] is a good player and he showed he was.”
As we noted earlier in the week, Boswell, at 24, is the youngest kicker in playoff history to go 4/4 in a game, and one of several young players to come up huge in the Wild Card win. And while I’m not interested in thinking or discussing who will be the kicker of 2016, there certainly will be a battle brewing between he and Shaun Suisham.
