The QB sneak: An appreciation.

 It's always arctic where I am, when I think about the quarterback sneak. You reach a certain age, it happens.

The quarterback sneak, to those of us of a certain decrepitude?

Sure. Green Bay, 1967, 13 below zero. Ball on the 1-yard line. Sixteen seconds to play.

And there's the famous snippet of video, Jerry Kramer and Ken Bowman moving Jethro Pugh aside just enough so Bart Starr can tuck the ball, lower his shoulders and squeeze through into the end zone.

That's what I see in my mind's eye when I think about the quarterback sneak. That's why I think I've never, ever seen it fail, although of course it has.

Not on fourth-and-inches, however.

Twice fourth-and-inches bit the Indianapolis Colts on their way to another loss yesterday, this one more egregious than most. The Colts led Washington 16-7 with four minutes to play this time, at home. They lost, 17-16. And they lost because of two quarterback sneaks that didn't get called.

One was down on the goal line, where it was third-and-inches, if not third-and-an-inch. If they call a quarterback sneak for Sam Ehlinger on that play, it's six points. That close to the goal line, it's literally unstoppable, because all Ehlinger has to do is take one forward step, if not half a forward step. No defense on earth can keep him from doing that, lousy offensive line or not.

Instead, he stepped back -- surrendered yardage, in other words -- and handed the ball to Jonathan Taylor, who got stuffed. The Colts settled for a field goal.

And the second time?

It was fourth-and-inches at the Colts 34, time running out, Washington six points down. Again, run a quarterback sneak there, and it's a first down and the game's likely over. Instead, Frank Reich chose to kick the ball away, and the Commanders hit a big pass to the 1-yard line and scored and won the game.

Two plays, two quarterback sneaks forsaken. And this after the Colts decided to go with Ehlinger at least in part because he could make plays with his feet as well as with his arm.

He never got the chance.

And those of us of a certain decrepitude, seeing Starr squeezing into the end once again in the Green Bay icebox, can only shake our heads. Yeesh.