The O will get it together, How about Special Teams??

[Patsfanin Philly]

While all the publicity has focused on the resurgence of the defense and the offensive woes, overlooked has been stellar special teams play through two games;
1) Steven Gostkowski has had 10 kickoffs and 9 resulted in touchbacks. The lone return against Buffalo was for 19 yards.
2) Gostkowski is 5/6 on FG attempts and 3/3 on extra points. The lone miss looked to be the result of a less than clean snap and hold which is still a work in progress with a new holder.
3) The Pats have returned 16 punts with Edelman gaining 104 yds on 9 returns (11.5 ypr) with 3 fair catches, 2 downed and 2 going out of bounds.
4) The Patriots have returned 3 kickoffs for 60 yards ( 20.0 ypr) with 3 touchbacks
5) Ryan Allen has punted 17 times in 2 games. At this rate (8.5 per game) he would punt 136 times in 2013 compared to Mesko’s 60 punts last year. Of those 17 punts, only 2 were returned for a total of 7 yards. Of the other 15, 7 were downed, 3 were touchbacks , 2 went out of bounds and 3 were fair catches. He’s averaging 44.1 yards per punt with a net of 40.2 ( -7 for returns and -60 for the 3 touchbacks).
Considering the brutal conditions on Thursday night, for comparison sake he out punted the Jets’ punter 46.7 to 39.3 gross average 42.5 vs. 36 net. Granted Rex Ryan didn’t field a returner on 2 of those punt returns but the gunner didn’t let the first one roll and second only gained about an extra 10 yards…

Conclusion,
*While there is room for improvement on the kickoff return side ( Hello Leon??) the opposition has received 27 punts and kickoffs and gained a total of 26 yards TOTAL in returns….
*Ryan Allen is averaging 44.1 yards per punt with a net of 40.2 compared to Mesko’s 42.4 and 37.9 net last year.. Before anyone mentions sample size, Allen’s 2 games are nearly 30% of Mesko’s last year total…

To break it down further,
*on PR you can’t ask for Edelman to do any better than 11 or 12 ypr which really affects field position.
*The same can be said for Gostkowski’s touchbacks which make the opposition start at the 20.. Last year only 52 of 112 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.
* Kickoff returns are below average with a small sample thanks to the defense giving up less points.
*Punting unit has done what was asked of it, keep the other team from returning it and preventing decent yardage…
If you set the bar for the special teams unit to be, " don't lose the game for us and maybe win it if called upon," then the Pats' special teams are passing with flying colors as week 1 showed......

 

[Fencer]

Well, there were some early season jitters with downing punts too soon or not soon enough, and I'm not sure what the kickoff return strategy is.

But yeah -- STs have been more good than bad.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Good breakdown and solid job so far by ST's. We seem to be winning in the field position department and they haven't really hurt us aside from one shanked punt and one of Blount's returns inside the 15... which I again agree with you - Leon???

As for my bigger concerns going into the season - I was mixed on Allen after game 1 but I thought he was great on Thursday, not sure if he'll be as good/better than Mesko but so far it looks like he will at least be worth the savings and won't be another Ken Walter/Chris Hansen *fingers crossed that doesn't change*. My other concern was Ghost but he's been great thus far, especially on kickoffs which is huge considering some issues we had with giving up big KR's last year...again crossing the fingers that keeps up.

 

[mgteich]

I like seeing special team specialists. Of course, so many here criticize these players. Kudos to Slater, Cole, White, Fletcher, Wilson, and Ebner. You won't see them much on defense. In addition, kudos to backup players who play lots of special teams: Collins, Harmon and Ryan.

We have only one active player who stands out by playing neither on defense or special teams: Bequette.

 

[borg]

Great effort....love stat-based posts.
Wrecks tried to rattle the rookie punter but the kicking unit handled the extra pressure with flying colors and Allen performed.
Since 2013 is starting to resemble the 2001 team that was offensively challenged as well, special team has to be huge. Remember how well the Pats won the field position battles back in '01. A three and out D and an effective punting unit went along way back then....so lets hope special teams can continue to pin the opponents back deep.
Watching Slater cut down returners is must see TV
Great post

 

[Seacoast Fan]

From the title of this thread I though the issue was going to be, the ST had to improve....and I was going to say, I think they have been doing very well.....so, now I will just say, I agree with you!

 

[Mack Herron]

STs has been the brightest spot on the team so far. The only mystery is signing a premier KR and then playing a 250 pounder who is neither fast nor powerful. I am thinking that Washington's injury is the key and that we will see him back there as soon as he is healthy.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

From the title of this thread I though the issue was going to be, the ST had to improve....and I was going to say, I think they have been doing very well.....so, now I will just say, I agree with you!

I was trying for a play on words based on a similarly titled thread. ST will as a few posters noted play a bigger role than In years past when they have the inevitable increase in 3 and outs compared to year's past leading to wars of attrition and field position.