Bill the GM and His Special Teams Obsession....

[FCB02062]

Volin dives deep into Bill the GM and his lusting after ST even though kick and punt returns have declined every year in recent history.... why? It is not 1976
Patriots invested big in special teams, but with new NFL rules, there’s not much of a payoff - The Boston Globe

 

[JarOfMayo51]

Ive questioned the heavy focus on special team only positions on the roster and whether its a good idea to have so many dedicated ST positions, but its a much harder argument to make after the performance of the ST unit last year

 

[State]

A lot of the problems were in coaching and certain players named Myles…

Well, let sleeping dogs lie.

 

[State]

Moving up for a kicker is a controversial action that could pay dividends.

These guys are notoriously unreliable, more temperamental than a wife in a mattress store.

 

[sb1]

The Patriots were eliminated last season via ST. They also weren’t very good. I’m ok with upgrading.

 

[BTTA]

Volin dives deep into Bill the GM and his lusting after ST even though kick and punt returns have declined every year in recent history.... why? It is not 1976
Patriots invested big in special teams, but with new NFL rules, there’s not much of a payoff - The Boston Globe
View attachment 51383

"Your Honor, we'd like submit exhibit 1, an article in the Boston Globe that states that Belichick's investment in special teams is a mistake."
"I don't understand. The Globe is taking a stance against your case."
"Precisely, Your Honor. We believe that the jury will see this to be evidence that supports that Belichick's investment is wise."

 

[Family]

Ben Volin.

So much football knowledge that anyone who is a fool would take notice.

 

[TheRainMaker]

With the team already being mediocre, it’s probably not wise to focus so much on special teams.

If you are relying on special teams to win you games or blaming them for loses - you are not a very good team.

 

[Dingleberry]

Boston Globe and Ben Volin. Both are useless.

The 2022 Patriots were an anemic offense with mediocre QB play and pathetic coaching. And yet, with even average special teams play, that team would have been a playoff team playing a meaningless Week 17 game. The special teams lost 2, maybe 3 games last year. Think about it. That **** offense still could have been a 10-7 team.

I liked having the best special teams (or one of the best) during the Brady era.

Criticize Bill for HOW the special teams were handled last year. But I will never criticize his obsession with it.

 

[FCB02062]

volin sucks, as does Pravda on Morrissey Blvd....but the fact is special teams, mainly kick coverage and kick returns, both punts and kickoffs, are decreasing exponentially every season. and we have a coach and general manager who was placing more resources than any other team on special teams. And this is on a team that can't score touchdowns and cannot stop a. quarterback that isn't a bum.
I would much rather see resources dedicated to scoring touchdowns and stopping good quarterbacks instead of covering punts

 

[Tunescribe]

volin sucks, as does Pravda on Morrissey Blvd....but the fact is special teams, mainly kick coverage and kick returns, both punts and kickoffs, are decreasing exponentially every season. and we have a coach and general manager who was placing more resources than any other team on special teams. And this is on a team that can't score touchdowns and cannot stop a. quarterback that isn't a bum.
I would much rather see resources dedicated to scoring touchdowns and stopping good quarterbacks instead of covering punts

Here's an idea! Quote a sportswriter you think sucks from a newspaper you hate while whiffing on a non-reason to push your anti-BB agenda.

 

[1960Pats]

volin sucks, as does Pravda on Morrissey Blvd....but the fact is special teams, mainly kick coverage and kick returns, both punts and kickoffs, are decreasing exponentially every season. and we have a coach and general manager who was placing more resources than any other team on special teams. And this is on a team that can't score touchdowns and cannot stop a. quarterback that isn't a bum.
I would much rather see resources dedicated to scoring touchdowns and stopping good quarterbacks instead of covering punts

It appears in the case of STs that Bill is playing checkers while the rest of the NYFL is playing chess.

There was a thread here not too long ago about how many less kicks and punts are being returned these days. The new rule will probably make that number even smaller.

 

[BTTA]

volin sucks, as does Pravda on Morrissey Blvd....but the fact is special teams, mainly kick coverage and kick returns, both punts and kickoffs, are decreasing exponentially every season. and we have a coach and general manager who was placing more resources than any other team on special teams. And this is on a team that can't score touchdowns and cannot stop a. quarterback that isn't a bum.
I would much rather see resources dedicated to scoring touchdowns and stopping good quarterbacks instead of covering punts

If this were true, then a single exponential decrease would bring them down to single digits across all games over the entire year.

 

[Steve102]

Do you hate the coach/GM ?

Is your knowledge of STs limited to your first experience that your HS team had the bench warmers on special teams?

If you answered yes to either of these question, you hate the focus on specials.

If you answered yes to #1, and the coach/GM ignored STs this offseason, you'd be the first one to ***** when STs costs them a game.

 

[signbabybrady]

With the team already being mediocre, it’s probably not wise to focus so much on special teams.

If you are relying on special teams to win you games or blaming them for loses - you are not a very good team.

I don't think anyone claims that STs wins very many games outside of the occasional game.

But the impact on field position make things much easier or harder on offense and defense.

The rules are certainly limiting this but that also means that the plays that do happen can be that much more critical. If a team gets complacent on the KR because they always wind up touch backs what happens when they run into someone truly special who is willing to return them more than the average team? Are they equipped to cover properly or did they devalue it too much.

Hopefully that's what the league has to deal with when it comes to Marcus Jones. He seems so electric returning that I hope teams devalue STs so much that they can't possibly be equipped to stop him.

And punting/PR would seem to still be as critical as always as it pertains to field position.

Lastly you don't want to be that guy talking about STs because you missed a critical FG.

 

[archstanton543]

Boston Globe and Ben Volin. Both are useless.

The 2022 Patriots were an anemic offense with mediocre QB play and pathetic coaching. And yet, with even average special teams play, that team would have been a playoff team playing a meaningless Week 17 game. The special teams lost 2, maybe 3 games last year. Think about it. That **** offense still could have been a 10-7 team.

I liked having the best special teams (or one of the best) during the Brady era.

Criticize Bill for HOW the special teams were handled last year. But I will never criticize his obsession with it.

ST also won them a game last year. Don't overlook it.

 

[Triumph]

Some folks speculate that Folk wont be around much longer.

The Pats need to get younger at Kicker and they needed a Punter.

 

[BTTA]

I don't think anyone claims that STs wins very many games outside of the occasional game.

But the impact on field position make things much easier or harder on offense and defense.

The rules are certainly limiting this but that also means that the plays that do happen can be that much more critical. If a team gets complacent on the KR because they always wind up touch backs what happens when they run into someone truly special who is willing to return them more than the average team? Are they equipped to cover properly or did they devalue it too much.

Hopefully that's what the league has to deal with when it comes to Marcus Jones. He seems so electric returning that I hope teams devalue STs so much that they can't possibly be equipped to stop him.

And punting/PR would seem to still be as critical as always as it pertains to field position.

Lastly you don't want to be that guy talking about STs because you missed a critical FG.

I don't have them at hand, but the stats on the increase in likelihood of an offense getting points on a given drive go up surprisingly based on just a few yards of starting field position. I remember being quite surprised at the difference between the 25 and the 35, for example.

With so many fans orientation to football being shaped by gaming and gambling, it is easy to see why this subtly gets overlooked a lot.

 

[Dingleberry]

ST also won them a game last year. Don't overlook it.

That's fair. That game had 6-6 tie written all over it.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

If you are relying on special teams to win you games or blaming them for loses - you are not a very good team.

Drew Brees would have played in 2 more SB if not for poor ST. There are documentaries about the Chargers with Rivers and how poor ST killed their shot at the playoffs multiple years. Most games are decided by 7 points so 1/3 of the personnel will have a huge impact. Field position, extra points, two point conversations, onside kicks, punt returns. It was a huge reason we had a historic 20 year run.