But punter Sam Martin sent a bouncing ball toward the Cardinals’ line, and they caught a break they needed, as it deflected off a member of the receiving team.
“What we’re trying to do is put it in a situation where you’re trying to get it to bounce off of somebody, and I think the toughest ball to field is the one that that Sam gave it to him,” Jansen said. “Which is it’s spinning, it’s bouncing, it’s not clean, and it’s in front of them a little bit where their assignment is to go attack and block.
“And now that they’ve got to run to the ball, so they’re avoiding the ball, can’t get the block. That was the best kick you can really have.”
Special teamer/linebacker Claudin Cherelus was in the right spot at the right time, dove onto the ball, and he was only thinking one thing at the moment.
“Just give us a chance, secure the ball,” Cherelus said. “I had it for a second, I landed on it, but it squirted out, but thank God my teammates run to the ball, so Demani came to help clean it up.”
That would be second-year safety Demani Richardson, who came up with the unlikely recovery, on a day when the Panthers answered a 27-3 deficit with improved defense and three unanswered touchdowns.
“It’s crazy because we’re down by so much and we had a chance at the end,” Richardson said. “So it was just still just like that, knowing this team had a fight.”
The Panthers practice the play weekly, and Richardson said they’ve converted it there. But Cherelus laughed and admitted they don’t get many reps.
“Getting the bounce, it’s tough because you really, honestly don’t get many opportunities to work on it,” Cherelus said. “You know, it’s hard to simulate how it’s going to go. The kick, it’s unorthodox, you don’t know how it’s going to fall. You don’t know how it’s going to play out, how they’re going to play, so you just put a lot of faith and just get to the rock, trusting that all 11 are trying to recover.”