Nathan Shepherd is your Week 10 NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Shepherd isn't the New Orleans Saints defensive tackle on the front of most fans' mind, but his blocked field goal kept the Carolina Panthers from tying the came up at 10 even in the third quarter.
Blocked field goals seem to be the story of the NFL season this year. Some of the biggest games have been impacted by special teams this year. The Eagles blocked the Rams' potentially game winning field goal and returned it for a touchdown to close out the game. The Cowboys blocked an extra point and returned it for a two point conversion in a game against the Packers that ended as a tie.
Shepherd's block of Eddie Piñero didn't carry the same weight, but it falls in line with the trend of blocked field goals that have taken over the season. With or without the honor of being player of the week, the aftermath of Shepherd's block make the play hard to forget.
Blocked field goal was a big moment for the Saints until it wasn't... and then it was again
The Saints may have saw the strangest series of events the NFL has seen in a game. Shepherd's blocked field goal was just the beginning of the sequence, but it was also the catalyst for the biggest "what the (fill in the blank)" moment of the Saints season. That's saying a lot with how this year has been going.
Shepherd blocked the field goal, and all Saints fans are rejoicing for obvious reasons. It felt like a complete momentum swinger, and then the officials came back on the field to announce it was Panthers ball. Now, I was live at the stadium, so I had no idea this was coming.
The action paused, which is normal after that play, next thing I know the Panthers are coming back on the field. Maybe if you were watching on TV then the commentators prepared you for what was about to happen.
Sunday became the day everyone found out if you touch a blocked kick ahead of the line of scrimmage, it becomes a live ball. That's what happened. Cam Jordan touched the ball after it was blocked, and the Panthers recovered it.
It seemed to give the Panthers even more momentum that when they were initially driving down the field. They felt destined to score a touchdown. Fortunately for the Saints, destiny had other plans. Four plays later, the Saints recovered a fumble to give possession back to the offense. In the words of Rasheed Wallace, "Ball Don't Lie."