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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Robert Zeglinski

The Vikings executed a brilliant fake punt by playing tricks with a safety and running back

Vikings Ty Chandler Josh Metellus CBS NFL

Any time you play a juggernaut like the Kansas City Chiefs, all bets are off. You’re going to want to pull out all the stops to gain any advantage in what will likely be a dogfight until the final whistle.

With one key fourth-down call Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings showed they were ready to rise to the occasion. (Well, aside from a first-play fumble.)

When Minnesota found itself at midfield near the end of the second quarter, Kevin O’Connell didn’t want to wave the white towel. He greenlit his special teams unit dialing up an incredibly cool fake punt featuring safety Josh Metellus taking a direct snap before handing the ball off to running back Ty Chandler. Naturally, Chandler took the carry 15 yards on a possession where the Vikings would eventually score a touchdown.

I’m … not sure I’ve ever seen something like this:

Here’s another angle of the play showing off the exchange between Metellus and Chandler:

If you’re gonna aim for the king, you best not miss. Beyond beating the Chiefs head-to-head, trick plays and fake punts like this should always be considered. The Vikings took a gamble and won their bet on this play. It just wasn’t enough in an eventual 27-20 defeat.

This was how Twitter reacted to the Vikings' fake punt

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