MASNsports.com is your online home for the latest Orioles and Nationals news, features, and commentary. And now, you can connect with MASN on every digital level. From web and social media to our new mobile alert service, MASN has got all the bases covered.
Get the latest breaking news direct to your phone with our mobile texting service.
Yesterday wasn't exactly a normal day at the office for punter Sam Koch.
He botched the hold on a field goal, took a vicious hit to the chest from Dolphins safety Chris Clemons, and completed his first pass in a game at any level of his football career.
Oh yeah, and he didn't actually punt the ball a single time.
"Very interesting day," a smiling Koch said after the game. "More than likely, we won't see that again for a while, but I'll continue to punt and do my job."
The highlight of the day for the Ravens' punter was his 13-yard completion on a fake punt late in the third quarter.
Here's how it went down:
Koch lined up 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage as he does for every punt, and went through his normal pre-punt routine. As he was preparing to get the snap from Morgan Cox, he heard a bunch of hooting and hollering coming from the Ravens' sideline.
The punter looked in the direction of the Baltimore bench, and saw that Ravens cornerback Cary Williams, lined up as the gunner, was completely uncovered.
"I saw him out there, but I just figured someone was going to cover him up sooner or later," Koch said. "However, people just started yelling and yelling and yelling."
All the commotion coming from the sideline created some confusion around the line of scrimmage. Haruki Nakamura, the Ravens' up-back in the punt formation, appeared to try and call timeout, but it wasn't seen by an official.
Finally, Nakamura yelled for Cox to snap the ball. At that point, Koch had two options - just punt the ball away and play things safe, or take a chance and try and float the ball out to Williams through a stiff wind and try and pick up the first down.
"I decided to throw it," Koch said.
The decision paid off. Koch, who had never thrown a pass in high school, college, or the NFL prior to yesterday, hit Williams, and the second-year cornerback scampered for 13 yards and a big first down.
"That's a hard thing to get to sometimes because you don't want to mess it up," head coach John Harbaugh said. "Sometimes you can just punt the ball and be better off. It's a hard play to execute. And there was a lot of wind down there, too. Sam's not a quarterback. So, it was really a good decision."
Koch finished the day with a completion percentage of 100 percent, a quarterback rating of 118.8, and zero punts.
My guess is he didn't expect his stat line to look quite like that when he showed up to work yesterday.
