National Football League

Rams' fearless fake punt is one of the gutsiest calls you'll see (VIDEO)

Published Oct. 19, 2014 6:13 p.m. ET

Sam Gardner

St. Louis totally faked out the entire Seattle Seahawks special teams unit on Stedman Bailey's 90-yard second-quarter punt return touchdown Sunday, but as it turned out, that first-half okie-doke was just the first of two fearless special teams calls that helped the Rams steal a 28-26 win over the defending Super Bowl champs.

The latter came with just under three minutes left in the game, with St. Louis holding on to that 28-26 advantage. Facing a fourth-and-3 from their own 18, the Rams sent out punter Johnny Hekker for what everyone in the building probably expected would be his fourth kick of the game.

But instead of settling for booting it away and hoping the St. Louis defense could hold on, Rams coach Jeff Fisher dialed up a fake punt, with Hekker dumping the ball off to running back Benny Cunningham, who snuck out of the backfield to make the grab and picked up 18 yards for a first down, effectively sealing the win.

As gutsy calls go, they don't get much bolder than this:

The play was still barely enough for the Rams to hold on, as they also needed the benefit of a controversial call following a St. Louis fumble with 1:14 left to play to keep the Seahawks from getting the ball back anyway, but when you're in serious need of a victory, you don't complain about how you get them.

With the win, St. Louis improved to 2-4 on the year, as Seattle dropped to 3-3.