For those of you who miss Zoltan Mesko...

.........from the Pittsburgh Steeler board:


"I thought Zoltan was supposed to be a huge upgrade over Butler.

What i saw was one shank, no hang time, and just overall short kicks. I would prefer Butler after what i saw today."


"He didn't have a great game, but the punter was the least of their problems today. Let's give him more time."


"the hang time is my biggest issue, we have seen our coverage units during the preseason... they dont need more open space"


"The punting today sucked and because of our piss poor offense, he had a lot of chances to hit some good kicks"


I thought Zoltan was supposed to be a huge upgrade - Steelers Fever Forums

Allen was still awful yesterday. Hopefully that was just an anomaly. That kind of punting could cost a team a football game.

I remember the Ken Walter days... he of the 18 yard punt with something like 2 minutes left in a close game. Don't care to relive that...

sb1 said:

Allen was still awful yesterday. Hopefully that was just an anomaly. That kind of punting could cost a team a football game.

I remember the Ken Walter days... he of the 18 yard punt with something like 2 minutes left in a close game. Don't care to relive that...

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No, he wasn't awful. He had one shank, the rest were serviceable.

Tunescribe said:

No, he wasn't awful. He had one shank, the rest were serviceable.

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that was for Shaugnessy

On the positive side....


Allen held for 3 good FG's and NO misses

Firstly those were Steeler fans views after a bad game... they're not the most stable thoughts. Second, it's his first game in that stadium which is one of the toughest for kickers.

Both punters had mixed to bad games (I didn't see Mesko's but from what I hear it was bad). But it's very early and we know how good Mesko was here, that's what matters when it comes to missing him or not. Allen had a few good punts but he also shanked one bad, had a touchback when we punted around midfield IIRC, and another shorter punt when we needed a good one deep in our territory - Buffalo started a possession on our 41. Overall, it was an okay outing but our typical games from Mesko were better. I'm willing to give Allen a chance though he seems to have potential.

Tunescribe said:

No, he wasn't awful. He had one shank, the rest were serviceable.

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Maybe saying "awful" was overreacting to the shank but I saw one good punt the whole game. Also had a touchback when the opportunity was there to pin them deep. Gotta do better than that.

Allen should settle in after his first NFL game jitters. He impressed BB enough in camp to win the job. Of course there was about 900,000 other reasons.

Expect him to get better month by month with a few downs along the way. Have to remember he's a rookie and has room to get better.

Mesko is a veteran and what you see is what you get.He
had a down day yesterday so it can happen to any punter.

sb1 said:

Maybe saying "awful" was overreacting to the shank but I saw one good punt the whole game. Also had a touchback when the opportunity was there to pin them deep. Gotta do better than that.

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He punted 7 times and three of them were inside the 20. Not great, but not horrible.

On the touchback, I blame Slater for that one. He ended up getting locked up with the the Bills returner for a second that stopped him from downing that ball on the one. Allen kicked it so Slater had the opportunity to down it inside the 10 that is all you can ask for from a punter. The punter is not the gunner. The punter's job it to make the ball bounce inside the ten. It is the gunner's job to make sure it doesn't bounce in the end zone. Allen did his job. Slater almost did his because he did get to the ball before it bounced into the endzone, but he was unable to bat it back before he went into the endzone and when it did bounce back it still bounced in the end zone.

Allen did have one bad shank, but overall he wasn't bad.

It's ridiculous to draw conclusions (either way) on Mesko or his replacement at this point.

Ask me what I think around Thanksgiving.

We have other things to worry about.

And one of those punts was from the 5? He shanked one that went out somewhere in the mid 30's right? I didn't see any big returns. I didn't think he was all that bad.

Rob0729 said:

He punted 7 times and three of them were inside the 20. Not great, but not horrible.

On the touchback, I blame Slater for that one. He ended up getting locked up with the the Bills returner for a second that stopped him from downing that ball on the one. Allen kicked it so Slater had the opportunity to down it inside the 10 that is all you can ask for from a punter. The punter is not the gunner. The punter's job it to make the ball bounce inside the ten. It is the gunner's job to make sure it doesn't bounce in the end zone. Allen did his job. Slater almost did his because he did get to the ball before it bounced into the endzone, but he was unable to bat it back before he went into the endzone and when it did bounce back it still bounced in the end zone.

Allen did have one bad shank, but overall he wasn't bad.

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Whether the punt lands within the 20 yard line is a poor barameternof success...it depends on where the punter is punting from obviously.

TommyBrady12 said:

Whether the punt lands within the 20 yard line is a poor barameternof success...it depends on where the punter is punting from obviously.

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Not necessarily. If a team is punting from their own endzone, it isn't. But anything beyond say their own 30 is indicative of success.

Makes BB look like even more of a genius for wasting a draft pick on him.

sb1 said:

Allen was still awful yesterday. Hopefully that was just an anomaly. That kind of punting could cost a team a football game.

I remember the Ken Walter days... he of the 18 yard punt with something like 2 minutes left in a close game. Don't care to relive that...

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The punting and return teams were atrocious yesterday. They constantly put the offense inside their own 10 and gave the Bills position at their 40 or better. The punting was really mediocre as he appeared to shank a few and not get much on other kicks. I'm not saying Zoltan would've been better, but he certainly couldn't have been any worse. The field position game was lost in a big way yesterday and that needs to change.

sb1 said:

Allen was still awful yesterday. Hopefully that was just an anomaly. That kind of punting could cost a team a football game.

I remember the Ken Walter days... he of the 18 yard punt with something like 2 minutes left in a close game. Don't care to relive that...

Click to expand...

He had one awful punt (the 18 yarder) which as I recall didn't cost us anything. What was wrong with the rest?

bills drives after punts started: BUF 10, 28, 8, 11, NE 42 (from own end zone), BUF 20 (touchback)
ZERO return yards

one short punt but the bill started at their own 28.

this is NOT a poor punting performance just in case people were suggesting otherwise.

The proper comparison, IMO, is not Allen versus Mesko. Instead, it should be Allen versus some unknown punter we would likely be able to get next year -- on a rookie pay scale or a non-premium (mediocre) vet.

Belichick has seemingly decided that he is not going to pay top free agent money for a punter. I'm sure that the Pats had at least discussed the parameters of a new deal with Mesko's agent and realized that they would not be an active bidder.

Therefore, Belichick already knew Mesko would be gone after next year. So, he figured he'd take two bites of the apple to replace him. Drafting a top college punter was the best shot at ending up with a really good punter at a bargain price for four years. If the guy he tried this year looked like a keeper, make the move now. If not, wait and try again next year.

Allen apparently has the credentials (two Ray Guy awards as the best punter in college football) and a solid camp (competitive with Mesko) to warrant making the move now.

I don't think how he punted in his first NFL game is much of a factor in all that -- one way or the other.

sb1 said:

Allen was still awful yesterday. Hopefully that was just an anomaly. That kind of punting could cost a team a football game.

I remember the Ken Walter days... he of the 18 yard punt with something like 2 minutes left in a close game. Don't care to relive that...

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Didn't Ryan's 19 yarder lead to a Buffalo score?

Allen did horrible yesterday we really should of the kept the better punter Mesko.