http://central.sonsofsamhorn.net/nfl/one-expects-fake-punt-return/
If the words “fake punt return” don’t roll off your tongue, that’s because they aren’t supposed to; Teams don’t fake punt returns. They simply don’t. It doesn’t happen. The primary objective of any punt return is to secure the football. Any yardage that happens after the catch is secondary to this objective. So, in deciding to fake a punt return, Fassel essentially abandoned the number one commandment of any special teams unit: deliver a play with the best chance of either getting your offense the football or pinning the opposing offense as deep as possible. This was not just a gutsy call. This was a call that, if it went badly with the Rams leading by eleven points, could dramatically reshape the dynamic of the game.