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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.One of the problems on kick-offs is our best wedge breaker isn't on the field in Mike Wright. And he's not out there because they don't want him to get hurt while he is the starting NT.
We're also looking at a rookie kicker who may have hit a bit of a wall.
What the hell is a DPAR?
Dumb People At Risk?
The most likely scenerio, note the two shortest kicks came near the end.Ummm. . . . Not likely. If Gostkowski isn't trying to kick it deep into the end zone, it's often because he's been instructed to kick it the way he does (e.g., in the MIN game, when he was purposely trying to keep it away from Bethel Johnson).
Fortunately BB's visit with Saurbrun suggests the coverage and kicks truly weren't coordinated.There are but three things that can go wrong on coverage teams, and that's speed, lane responsibility, and tackling. Lane responsibility was bad all day, not just on kickoffs, but punts as well. Pacman's punt return was distinguished by him running around a cloud of Patriots who had all converged on a spot five yards in front of where he fielded the ball.
Too much turnover on special teams against too good a returner on a field not made for speed = lackluster coverage.
Gost had a really inconsistent day today, kicking 75, 49, 65, 55, 71, 52, 37, and 40 yards on kickoffs. Hard to believe that was all planned and must have caused problems for the coverage teams.
We know going into the playoffs with an inconsistent rookie kicker with a very strong leg. The strong kickoffs have so far compensated for the weak place kicking, but there's plenty of reason for nervousness.