During the second quarter of the Washington Commanders' loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Niners' RB Christian McCaffrey took off through the middle of the defense on a screen pass. As Commanders' rookie Sonny Styles took McCaffrey down, EDGE K'Lavon Chaisson came flying in…throwing a punch at the football. The Peanut Punch, specifically.
The ball jumped out of McCaffrey's hands, onto the ground, and ended up being recovered by LB Frankie Luvu for a Commanders' turnover. Elite peanut punch by K'Lavon Chaisson 👊 pic.twitter.com/zp180jRnz0 Fumbles are more and more common around the NFL this year, and part of it is due to the Peanut Punch. Once a novelty made legendary by Bears' CB Charles "Peanut" Tillman, the Peanut Punch has become the primary cause of fumbles around the NFL.
Through six games, there have been 175 forced fumbles, the highest number through six weeks since 2013. If we divide it between rushing and receiving, the 1.4% fumble rate on receptions is tied for the fifth-highest since TruMedia started tracking in 2000. While there are many reasons for fumbles being so high, the expansion of the Peanut Punch around the league has been a very fun aspect to watch throughout the season.
From players truly connecting on the punch and forcing fumbles to the wacky misses that end up seeing players get ejected for punching a guy's helmet, the Peanut Punch has become a constant threat to watch whenever your favorite team has the ball. Despite being 2-4, the New York Jets have been one of the quietly fascinating teams to watch this season, mainly because they're forcing turnovers. They're second in the NFL in forced fumbles (10) through six games and have nine forced fumbles on the defensive side of the ball.
In their loss to the Patriots on Sunday, LB Jamien Sherwood showed off some incredible hustle to force a fumble. When he got in range, guess what he did? That's right, he punched at the ball.
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn spoke to CBS Sports about how his team trains the timing of their punch-outs and how to judge punching the ball versus traditionally ripping it. "I think it's two totally different situations," Glenn said. "There are some punch outs where, man, you want physical body on body, where you can punch and wrap.
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