Donnie Jones has made a lot of huge punts in his 10-year NFL career, but the 70-yard punt he uncorked on Sunday against Washington that pinned the Redskins at their 4-yard line ranks right at the top.
The situation: The Eagles held a 24-16 lead over Washington with three and a half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. A third-down run by quarterback Nick Foles had initially been ruled a first down, but Washington challenged the officials' call and the ball was moved back a few feet, short of the first down. So it was up to Jones to come through.
And he did, in a big way. Jones' kick sailed left and created enough of a concern that return man Nick Williams allowed the punt to bounce. It did just that, and in fact bounced perfectly out of bounds at the 4-yard line with 3:26 remaining. The kick helped Jones earn NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
"For me, given the circumstances and the wind and everything about the game, that was probably my biggest kick," said Jones. "It was huge. It just felt so good coming off my foot and I got it up into the wind a bit – it was blowing right to left – and the return man didn't want to take a chance. It worked out perfectly for us."
