Eagles Fake Punt Fail: Chas Henry Underthrows Receiver On Fourth Down Against Bears (VIDEO)

Following Jay Cutler's go-ahead touchdown pass to Earl Bennett early in the fourth quarter to put the Bears up 27-24, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid got a little tricky with his play-calling. The Eagles had marched down to Chicago's 42-yard line, but they couldn't convert on third down as Michael Vick threw an incomplete pass to Jason Avant.

The punt formation ran onto the field and it looked as if return star Devin Hester would get a chance to add to the Bears' lead. However, Reid called for a fake punt and caught Chicago completely off-guard. Punter Chas Henry, who was recruited at Florida as a quarterback, had teammate Colt Anderson wide open by the left sideline but drastically underthrew the pass. Henry immediately put his hands on his helmet and could barely look back at the Eagles sideline after the ball bounced incomplete in front of Anderson.

The result of the fake punt attempt brings back memories of then-Redskins coach Jim Zorn's embarrassing fake field goal call against the New York Giants that provoked ESPN's Mike Tirico to ask "what in the wide world was that?" The only difference: Reid's play-call appeared to be perfectly timed, but Henry just couldn't connect on the throw.

"He was uncovered. We tried to throw him the ball, but obviously it didn't work. We'll always try to stay aggressive," Reid said after the 30-24 loss.

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Comments

[niko73]

10:22 PM on 11/09/2011

The Eagles are just no good. As much as the media wants them to. SI's Peter King had the Eagles as the 8th best team in the NFL before Monday night. Wow. I've seen some bandwagon jumping, but this is something else. I think they had to vindicate their pre-season predictions that the Eagles were going to be the team to beat. After taking down the Cowboys and Redskins--who we now know are NOT good teams--everyone thinks once again the Eagles are one of the best teams in the NFL. Truth is, they're not.

A big problem is that Andy went after nice shiny toys and neglected the trenches. As a Raider fan, I'm extremely familiar with this practice. Al Davis loved to spend big money on big gun QBs, fast RBs, and faster CBs while scraping together an offensive and defensive line. You pay for it every time.

[dwill123]

06:27 PM on 11/09/2011

David Akers would have made the pass.

[bahkey]

05:40 PM on 11/09/2011

Never let a soccer player throw a football.

[arfkm]

09:01 AM on 11/09/2011

Not a gimme pass especially for a punter.

[omegas3]

08:43 AM on 11/09/2011

vick is now 1-4 vs the bears

[blueyesinbhead]

03:34 AM on 11/09/2011

Don't give up your day job dude.

[1jurisdiva]

07:51 PM on 11/08/2011

Sometimes being an Eagles fan is a real trial.

[jflorish]

07:01 PM on 11/08/2011

The Bears pretty much punked them this whole game, it shouldn't have even been as close as the score was.

[sballerini]

08:26 PM on 11/08/2011

Puleez, all of the bad calls and turnovers cancelled themselves out and the Eagles had the chance to put the game away on more than a few occasions, That being said, the Eagles defense is SOFT!!! And that punter.....had some QB experience in college. This is a tough year to be an Eagles fan.

[Littleshovel]

03:30 PM on 11/08/2011

GO BEARS!!!!

[Ava Johnson]

03:03 PM on 11/08/2011

the problem with the fake was that it required a dan marino like laser beam of a pass to succeed. if the receiver had stayed on the line or even stepped back, the punter would have had a much easier pass, and the receiver might have been able to run for a first down. vick might have completed the pass, but a rookie punter? maybe once every 50 times or so. the bears inexplicably not covering the two gunners allmost turned into a tragic mistake for them. they were lucky indeed.

[mojo filter]

04:38 PM on 11/08/2011

he looked wide open. myguess is the punter threw it well enough in practice.

[woody7]

02:13 PM on 11/08/2011

saw the game, and it even faked out the tv crew. If it worked, it would have changed the whole game.

[ray christl]

01:39 PM on 11/08/2011

The game was fantastic & one of the biggest wins from Chicago on the road in many years...Lovie out-coached Andy Reid & Da Bears outplayed the Eagles...

[jflorish]

07:02 PM on 11/08/2011

The Bears OL is really playing well, that young line seems to finally be developing.

[SpreadthePanic]

01:12 PM on 11/08/2011

Most fake punts (or field goals) are poorly executed. They simply are not practiced often enough and the players asked to make these throws were not signed for their passing abilities. When they work, it is usually just because of the element of surprise, not because of great execution.

And let's be honest here - a punt would have likely resulted in a touchback for a net of 22 yards and a FG would have been around a 60 yarder. Going for it is the right call here, it was just a matter of leaving your offense in or using the fake punt to try to catch the defense off guard. They gambled, it didn't work out, but it wasn't a bad call.

[LogicalMathMan]

01:11 PM on 11/08/2011

Will Andy Reid finally be fired?

[Phoebe917]

07:09 PM on 11/08/2011

nah, they love him up there. why, i don't know. why he decided to be all cute with this play amazes me. that being said "Go Ravens"! how ya doing LMM?

[LogicalMathMan]

07:20 PM on 11/08/2011

LOL...doing well, ty Phoebe. Hope all is well with you too. Yes, he was trying to be cute, although I questioned that 3rd down and one to go play of the Bears too, when they were about 30 yards from the end zone and Cutler threw a pass on that down. It's like the Bears and Lovie did not trust their offensive line and Forte to get a 1st down.

[dteg]

08:20 PM on 11/09/2011

Great call just poor execution.

[Ryan Harris]

12:51 PM on 11/08/2011

HuffPo do you not like links? I'll try again,

Did anyone see the guy with the beer belt rapping?