It was perhaps the worst onside kick you will ever see — and Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin apparently didn’t learn his lesson from the egregious mistake in Week 9.
After Pittsburgh made things interesting late in the fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, Steelers kicker Chris Boswell managed to send a tricky "rabona" kick a grand total of six inches. Not six yards (and certainly not 10). Not six feet. Six inches.
Needless to say, his team was unsuccessful in coming up with the recovery. Yet this week at practice Tomlin told reporters that if given the opportunity he would have Boswell try that kick again in the future.
Via ESPN.com:
Tomlin on Tuesday said he wasn’t down on the play, only Boswell’s failure to "execute under pressure."
"We felt comfortable about allowing him to deliver that kick based on what we’ve seen him do here in practice-like settings," Tomlin said. "Would I give him the opportunity again? I would, based on what I’ve seen in preparation."
Really? … really?
If Tomlin genuinely believes that the rabona is his best chance at recovering an onside kick, then more power to him. Maybe every additional bit of deception helps when you’re attempting an expected onside kick, which generally has an expected recovery rate of around 10 percent. On the other hand, with a traditional onside attempt, at least you can still try to gather the ball on a poorly executed kick. When the rabona fails, all you can do is take the penalty and watch your opponent assume the victory formation.
