Watch: Jalen Reagor returns opening kickoff vs. Bills 98 yards for a touchdown

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Watch: Jalen Reagor returns opening kickoff vs. Bills 98 yards for a touchdown

Posted By: jasabacklink December 31, 2023

Patriots

The Patriots jumped out to a 7-0 lead over the Bills just 12 seconds into the game.

Jalen Reagor eludes Tyler Bass on the game’s opening play. Adrian Kraus/AP Photo

Oftentimes, when kickoffs are returned for touchdowns, players devise an elaborate scheme and zigzag all over the field before eventually breaking free.

In Jalen Reagor’s case, the route was much simpler and more direct. The Patriots speedster simply caught the ball at the 2-yard-line, found a hole, benefitted from some excellent blocking, sprinted in a straight line drive, and spun past Bills kicker Tyler Bass before taking off.

Bass displayed some surprising speed to nearly keep pace, but he couldn’t catch Reagor, who accelerated into the end zone to put the Patriots up, 7-0, 12 seconds into Sunday’s game in Buffalo.

Reagor, a former first-round pick of the Eagles who’s in his first year with the Patriots, returned a punt for a touchdown in his rookie season in Philadelphia. This was his first kick return for a score, though he did have a 40-yard return earlier this season and came in averaging 21.5 yards per attempt.

It was just the fourth kickoff return for a TD in the NFL this season, and New England’s first since Cordarrelle Patterson in 2018.

According to NextGenStats, Reagor reached a top speed of 20.62 miles per hour, the fastest speed by a Patriots ball-carrier this season. He was 0.04 mph faster than Bass, who posted the fastest speed by a kicker since at least 2016.