Lloyd_Christmas

He is saying that on 11 actual returned punts, the opposition returned for a total of 158 yards, or 14+ ypp. Not sure where that ranks league wide, but 31st (as the article states) is probably accurate.

I am leaning towards supporting Hanson. I thought he played decent and seemed to get better as the season progressed.


Here is some more NE punting info:

Facts:

50 punts: 9 OutBnds, 7 Dwnd, 10 TchBcks, 13 FairCtch, 11 Rtrnd
Longest punt: 70 yds
Average punt: 44 yds
Net Average: 36.8 yds
20 punts resulted in oppenent inside their 20 yd line
0 TDs
0 Blocked punts

Positives:

40% of all punts were a FC or Dwnd and an additional 10% (9 punts out of bounds) were probably coffin kicks.

40% of punts left the opponent inside their own 20 yd line.

No punts were blocked or returned for TDs.


Negatives:

20% of Hanson's punts were TBs (10 TBs on 50 punts). Unacceptable!

33.3% of his punts that were targeted for inside the 20 yd line resulted in TBs (10 out of 30).
-- That ranks 27th in the league. Only 4 teams had a worse %. Sea was tied with us.
-- The best: Colts 8.7%, Bengels: 10.7%, and Bears: 12.5%

14+ yds/punt average return is bad.

Net average punt of 36.8 yds ranks 20th in the league.
-- Note: 60% of Hanson's punts were targeted for inside the 20 yd line which will skew towards shorter punts.

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NEGoldenAge

Good analysis. Thanks for the effort!

DW Toys

Good post, but I have a theory about why Vrable, our top pass rushing defender was allowed to leave. I am in no way a great TBC fan, but in his last year here he had 4 and1/2 sacks. Is it possible with Vrabels last year of about the same sacks, that BB thought he was going to get the same production from a much cheaper and younger TBC? I think sacks are great but I understand that BB feels QB pressures is as important as sacks. I know they have stats on pressure. It would be great to see where each team ranked on QB pressures. I still think a Jason Taylor could help for a few years and perhaps between he and Thomas, teach Crable some tricks in the NFL. His Michigan QB sacks were fine.
I think Jason Taylor can win one or two games for us in 2009. No way we can afford Peppers.
DW Toys

N.Eman

Well said. I just wish we had Big Sey play his ownself again, get some good young talent at OLB and let Pees work this magic

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PATRIOTS MAGNETIC

supafly

Could be respectively argued that Big Sey was certainly himself last yr--as the stats point that our strengths on D are on his side of the field. His ability to take on two blockers allows others to step in and make more plays. Therefore, his role is underrated. He also tied his career high in sacks last yr, on a team with a patchwork defense--and a horrible secondary. I believe Big Sey is back

patchick

This was very striking watching the games. But what struck me most was that a lot of those punts looked like they weren't "targeted for inside the 20 yd line" at all -- they went sailing toward the end zone.

Is it remotely possible this was an intentional strategy shift? I wouldn't put it past Ernie & BB to have crunched a bunch of numbers and determined that on balance, a TB gives you a better result on the ensuing possession than putting the punt into play.

Sicilian

It would be fitting in a way, given that before Bruschi was Bruschi, he was a no name special teamer. Come into the league a ST standout, and maybe leave as one too

patfanken

Here would my my answers to Mike Questions.

1. Pass Rush - I think the Pats will be much improved in their pass rush. First of all they lost their BEST pass rusher for most of last season (AThomas). He will be back. Secondly they will have a better stronger secondary which will give the Pats another second to rush.
Third, when they add Jason Taylor to the mix, the Pats will back among the top 5 in sacks again.

2. They have been saying the same thing for the last 4 years. He completely ignores the fact that the Pats have an improved DRY coming back, and the fact that TBrushci's position will see less and less play in the Pass happy NFL. In most cases he will be the first LB to see the bench in passing situation (which these days is most every down). BTW- someone should tell Mike that the Pats have already gotten faster at LB.

3. Its a fair question but shows how Mike is stretching to find questions about the Pats. Yes the Pats will have to seriously look forward to the FUTURE of the OL AFTER this season, but this season they have 5 experienced proven quality starters and 2 back ups with extensive starting experience. Yes the Pats will have to start thinking about replacing guys as they start to reach their early 30's.... But seriously Mike, its not likely to make a difference THIS year.

And as for the sacks will all know that the majority of the Sacks the OL gave up last season was due to Matt Cassel's inexperience. I would like to see how the Pats ranked in pass protection over the last 8 games compared to the rest of the league.

4. I thought Hanson had a decent year, however he's right about the coverage. That could have been caused by the massive injuries to the secondary and OLB corps and why we've brought back TBC. Guys like Woods, Wilhite and Weatley SHOULD improve the punt coverage. Again another example of him trying to find questions to ask about the Pats. With other teams its their QB or DL with the Pats its their Punting or what their OL will look like in 2012.

5. He already knows who the next Matt Cassel is. O'Connor is Matt Cassel only with a stronger arm, better feet, and a lot more game experience in college. Only time will tell if he learns the system and can learn to make good decisions consistently. But the Bottom Line is that as far as the raw materiel goes...the next Matt Cassel is already on board. More Stretching by Mike

5.

Lloyd_Christmas

It's possible, but I would think that kicking a very high and short punt inside the 20 would result in a fair catch, a downed punt, or a return for little or no gain almost 100% of the time. A coffin kick should result in a punt going out of bounds inside the 20. It's hard to imagine that booming it through the back of the end zone causes a better result than either of those strategies.

However, it does let you forget about trying to be precise about wear it is going to come down... so it might reduce the odds of a blocked punt (punt goes off faster) or a shanked punt which goes out of bounds outside the 20 yd line (due to a mistake in trying to coffin kick it).

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JSn

Absolutely. BB was asked about those punts in a PC and he said this: "I've never seen a touchback returned for a touchdown." and grinned.

No way at least a few of those weren't what Doctor B ordered.

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