This is the final installment of a multi-week series on the analysis of every position on the Patriots in 1999. This week’s subject: Special Teams.
I’ve forgotten Adam Vinatieri’s big misses in 1999.
Has he?
Vinatieri was the focal point of two tough Patriot losses last year. The normally reliable kicker, whom the Patriots signed to a multi-year contract going into last year, was the difference between a 10-6 campaign and the 8-8 record the team finished with. Well, maybe not the total difference, but he had to wear the goat horns twice in 1999.
His first key miss came in week 5. The then 4-0 Patriots were stifled all afternoon by a tough Kansas City defense, but put themselves in a position to win late in the game. The Pats drove to the Chief 15 with seconds remaining, but Vinatieri’s last-second 32-yard field goal attempt doinked off the right upright. It negated a furious comeback by Drew Bledsoe, a game where the Patriots led at the half for the first time all year.
Then, in week 16, he missed three field goals, one of which cost the Patriots a win at home against Buffalo in regulation. He shanked a 33-yard attempt way wide at the fourth quarter gun, and later hung a 44-yarder into the wind short in the extra stanza. The Bills did hit their clutch field goal, snitching a 13-10 win from the Patriots.
Vinatieri did not have a bad year. He just had an off year by his lofty standards. He missed one PAT in 1999 after a perfect 1998. He hit 26 of 33 field goals for the year and scored 107 points. These numbers are right around his career averages, though the 107 points is the lowest of his four-year career.
Forget the field goal accuracy for a second. One thing Vinatieri should work on in the offseason is the length of his kickoffs. What Vinatieri may have in accuracy, he doesn’t compliment it with a booming leg on kickoffs. When the Patriots brought in Lee Johnson to punt this year, it was thought that Johnson would assume the kickoff duties. Such would not be the case.
Johnson proved to be a very steady Patriot, producing stable yet unspectacular numbers. His biggest contribution was just being there, an inexpensive replacement for Tom Tupa, who left via free agency.
When you see Bledsoe get sacked as often as he does, the Patriots are forced to play field position games. This kind of game usually means that your punter might be up for a game ball. Johnson was forced to make 90 punts in 1999, tied for sixth-most in the league.
Johnson averaged 41.5 yards per kick in 1999, with just over 25% of his kicks inside the 20. His net average was 34.6 yards per game. Johnson might want to improve on the latter two stats, especially if Bill Belichick wants to tear down the offense before rebuilding it. Johnson is also a bit of an age problem, as he turns 39 in November.
Where Troy Brown is concerned, he got his big bucks as a punt returner, not as a receiver.
His wide receiver status is number two only because of the departure of Shawn Jefferson. Brown remains a great situational receiver, at his best on third downs. But this alone does not justify his big contract.
His punt returns, combined with his receiving talents, do.
You don’t even need to go into stats. Just watch tapes of the last three games of 1999. Especially the Baltimore game. It was his punt returns that made the Pats show Troy the money. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Some say Brown should also return kickoffs. Punts are more up the alley for the more wiry Brown, whereas Kevin Faulk is a better man on kickoffs. His brutal, straight ahead style works better for these kinds of special teams formations. His low center of gravity makes him slippery, and the open field that kickoffs provide will help him get that low center of gravity moving fast.
Derrick Cullors may handle some kickoff duties in 2000 if he is fully recovered from his 1999 injury and is not cut. Cullors has the knack for breaking off long kickoff runs, but Faulk seems to have more upside in this area.
Last year exposed the importance of special teams coverage. When all the guys get hurt the other team averages 30 yards a punt return. YOu didn’t need to be a Phi Beta Kappa to figure that one out.
In week 6, the Patriots blew a 14-0 lead on Miami and lost at the wire at Foxborough, 31-30. Part of the Miami rally was fueled by four punt returns for 86 yards. Brown, Tebucky Jones, Harold Shaw and Chris Floyd were all out with injuries. Ty Law and Lawyer Milloy had to help out in punt coverage. No one told Johnson to punt the ball out of bounds. Oh, bother.
This year, the Patriots will be without one of their long-standing special teams unsung heroes. Marty Moore, the former “Mr. Irrelevant”, left as a free agent, and it remains to be seen how “relevant” his loss will be to the team. Moore was always a steady cover man on kickoffs, which more than made up for his average output as backup linebacker.
Sometime this year, the old Larry Whigham has to emerge.
Whigham, a former Pro Bowl player who got to Honolulu by going nuts on opposing return men, has never really regained the impact he had in 1996. All anyone sees in Whigham now is the fact that he’s a lousy backup safety. Whigham needs to have someone light a fire under him and make him get back to his old self. He needs to be the leader on kick coverages.
Many coaches feel that games are won in the trenches. But many others feel that special teams holds the critical key.
If Vinatieri has a short memory and can rebound, and if Johnson kicks like he’s almost 29, the kicking game can remain status quo at least for this coming year.
If Faulk and Cullors come back in good health, kickoff returns look good.
Brown? Jeez, don’t get hurt, Troy.
And Whigham needs to watch the Tasmanian Devil or something.
Tasmanian Devil? Weeellll, isn’t that “special”.
This concludes the 1999 Patriots Positional Analysis.
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Covering Boston Sports since 1997. Native of Worcester, Mass. Attended UMass and Univ of Michigan. Lives in California. Just recently retired after 40 years of public school teaching. Podcasts on YouTube at @thepic4139
