The game played out not unexpectedly. The Cardinals offense didn’t do much, leading to Feely 36- and 48-yard field goals and a 6-3 lead deep into the second quarter. Then came Feely’s magic moment, thanks in part to Skelton’s inexperience.
Facing at third-and-2 at the Denver 5-yard line, Skelton had a wide-open Tim Hightower in the flat for a first down, but for some reason held the ball long enough (to Hightower’s frustration) to lead to an incompletion. Feely trotted on for another field goal. Or not.
The Cardinals called “Wolverine” – a nod to Feely’s college days at Michigan – which gave Feely the run-or-pass-to-wing-Ben Patrick option against the aggressive Broncos. There had been fakes called before, although every time, the Cardinals checked out of them after a bad look from the defense.
“I mean, here I am, I’m playing for 10 years and you’re just hoping to get an opportunity to run a fake and you’re waiting two, three, four, sometimes five years before a coach will actually call a fake and then you check out of it, you’re like ‘Ahh,’ ” Feely said. “When we get the right look, I was just so excited.”
Graham, the holder, took the snap and flipped it to Feely, who, groin and all, was trying to get to top speed. Feely raised the ball as he crossed the goal line, snapping the Cardinals’ touchdown drought, leaping into the stands – kind of, since his vertical only got him high enough to be about halfway up – and generally celebrating like it was the first time he had ever scored a touchdown.
“The funny thing is, I was so tired from jumping into the stands and celebrating and all the emotion that I still had to kick the extra point,” Feely said. “And I was like, ‘Don’t miss this.’ “
Right before halftime, Feely boomed his 55-yarder, so the halftime score was Feely 16, Broncos 3. A red-zone stall on the first possession of the second half led to a 23-yard field goal, and deep into the quarter came a missed 49-yard field goal that Feely still regrets, given that he ended up two points shy of the full-time kicker record for points in a game.
When he kicked a 49-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter, CBS ran with the graphic that wouldn’t be forgotten: Denver 3, Jay Feely 22.
“It’s nuts that they actually put it on TV,” said Feely, who these days works as an NFL and college football analyst – for CBS.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at News…