It is safe to say things have not exactly gone according to plan this season for the Houston Texans. Nothing might paint that picture better than the idea of using a linebacker to handle kicking duties, but the Texans have done just that with Brian Peters.
Peters, who handled kicking responsibilities sin high school, stepped on the field for special teams duty on Sunday on the road against the Minnesota Vikings, but he wasn’t out there to block or tackle. He was there for his leg. Peters kicked high and short, as intended, to prevent the Vikings from having a long return. It seemed to work, as Peters pinned the Vikings once at the 16-yard line and at the 24-yard line on his first two attempts.
“Well, one of the reasons why we did that was because we were concerned about their returners, and he had kicked different types of kicks very well for us during the week – squib kicks,” Texans head coach Bill O’Brien explained. “He had been able to kick it out of the end zone a couple of times for us, and actually, the times – especially the first kickoff – when he kicked it, it was kind of a knuckleball that we instructed him to do it that way and we ended up tackling the guy I think around the 15-yard line, so that worked out really well. We’re just trying to change it up. Sometimes it’s good to change that up for the opponent to have to deal with that.”
Peters would leave the game with an injury, leaving him unable to be available for more squib kick tasks, but once he is able to get back on the field, it would be no shock to see O’Brien send out his linebacker once more to do what he does with his foot.
