Last Friday, Bill Belichick gave a close to 10-minute, 1,500-word answer to a question about the history of long-snapping and how it has evolved over time in the NFL.
While not as long, on Tuesday Patriots special teams coach Cam Achord gave an equally in-depth response when it comes to the different holds a holder can give a place kicker based on certain elements.
This came up following Sunday’s win over the Jets when Nick Folk said how the holders job is so underrated because of all the different holds and everything else that goes into it.
Without a football, Achord used a remote control to help demonstrate.
“Yeah, it all depends on the kicker himself and how he makes contact with the ball, which is why kicking is so unique,” he said. “Every kicker is different. There’s not one or two kickers that are the same. So, there are some kickers that like the ball straight up and down — no matter what, put it straight up and down and put the laces out. Well there’s other kickers that, let’s just say here’s the ball, ‘Hey, the wind’s kind of in my face from this direction,’ so he wants a little bit more tilt to him, so he can wrap the ball a little bit and it can drift. And then if the wind is really gusting, he may go a full lean here.
“So there’s really, most kickers, you know, probably two to three leans, is what you’re talking about. And then there’s other kickers that want to hit the bottom part and want to see the bottom part of the ball a lot of times, so there’s a lot of forward lean. So if you’re watching certain guys, you may start seeing the ball lean forward heavy, it’s so they can see more of the football, and it’s more of a plane for them to hit. Whereas others more lean two or straight up and down, based off the wind in their face into the direction, so it’s able to help.
“And we talked about cutting that wind, able to make the ball travel with that direction. That’s the thing. Not only with the holds and the operation and new operations is, you gotta get each kicker and the hold and the down, and now the holder has to know and identify that. And it’s not the same every time, and it may change in-game, based off the weather as well.”
After Sunday, Folk has no made 33 straight field goals, which is a new Patriots record.
