Let's talk drunk strategy: purposely duff a punt?

Submitted by Red_Lee on

3 beers in and I gotta get this off my mind. I've thought about it before, but do teams ever purposely duff a punt?

 

I'm watching the MSU-ND circus and I see how much chaos a ~30 yard wobbly punt can cause. I have seen them more often on rugby punts, but I feel like it could be a good trick play to try this on purpose.

 

Scenario: 4th and 5 on your own 40. Don't want to try a fake punt, so how about take a little less risk and punt the ball very short and quick right into the coverage?

 

I'm sure it's harder to execute on purpose than it is to actually mess up a punt, but I feel like these "chaos punts" can give the punting team a decent chance at a turnover without risking all of the field position. Sure, you may only net 20 yards, but hell that's a small price to pay for a chance at a turnover.

 

Just my thoughts. What do you guys think? I'm goin  back to the Dirty Bastard bottles.

 

EDIT: To clarify, I'm attempting to have the punter hit somebody on the return team with the ball, causing a muffed punt. I'm not talking a pooch punt. I'm talking about a situation where the other team is expecting a normal punt, only to have the ball land 30 yards downfield in the middle of retreating punt team blockers.