{"id":45500,"date":"2023-02-27T14:46:10","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T19:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=45500"},"modified":"2023-02-27T14:46:10","modified_gmt":"2023-02-27T19:46:10","slug":"patriots-special-teams-looks-for-improvement-in-2023-slaters-return-should-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2023\/02\/27\/patriots-special-teams-looks-for-improvement-in-2023-slaters-return-should-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Patriots Special Teams Looks For Improvement In 2023, Slater&#8217;s Return Should Help"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">For all the attention the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\" title=\"New England Patriots at PatsFans.com\"><strong>New England Patriots<\/strong><\/a> offense received this past season for its struggles, the special teams unit also saw a substantial decline under third-year Cam Achord.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The issues with special teams, in coverage especially, came to a head in the season finale against the Buffalo Bills when the Patriots, despite scoring more points on offense than their opponents, still lost after allowing two<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">kickoff returns for touchdowns by Nyheim Hines.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">After the game and the regular season, the Patriots finished 2022 dead last in special teams DVOA (Defense-adjusted Value Over Average). This a shocking drop-off once you consider the Patriots\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/boston\/patriots\/brutal-patriots-special-teams-stat-coaching-change-cam-achord-jake-bailey#:~:text=The%20New%20England%20Patriots%20finished,season%20from%201996%20through%202020.&amp;text=That's%20an%20eye%2Dopening%20stat,throughout%20the%20Bill%20Belichick%20era.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">finished<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0in the top 10 in special teams DVOA in 16 of the previous 21 seasons and were ranked first as recently as 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In 2022, the Patriots allowed three kick returns for touchdowns after allowing three in the previous 20 seasons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Punter Jake Bailey also\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/boston\/patriots\/brutal-patriots-special-teams-stat-coaching-change-cam-achord-jake-bailey\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">ranked<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0last in the NFL in net punting average before being replaced midseason by Michael Palardy, who was even worse.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Despite all the bad, rookie Marcus Jones showed promise in the return game, while Brendan Schooler led the team in special teams tackles and added two fumble recoveries before a shoulder injury slowed him late in the year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Heading into 2023, one big question surrounding the special team unit&#8217;s future was whether or not team captain Matthew Slater would return for another season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">On February 17th, Slater announced his return for a 16th season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8220;It is a great honor and blessing to return to the Patriots for my 16th season,&#8221; Slater said in a\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/boston\/patriots\/matthew-slater-announces-return-patriots-16th-nfl-season#:~:text=Special%20teams%20ace%20and%20team,and%20the%20Patriots%20announced%20Friday.&amp;text=%22It%20is%20a%20great%20honor,Slater%20said%20in%20a%20statement.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">statement<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. &#8220;I thank God for His continued grace and provision over my career. I look forward to continuing to play under the leadership of Coach (Bill) Belichick. Thank you to the Kraft family and the entire Patriots organization for allowing me to continue to pursue my childhood dream. See you in the fall. God Bless.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The news could not have been better since the unit remains on the younger side heading into 2023. The veteran experience Slater provides remains invaluable for players like Schooler, who he believes is capable of one-day leading special teams.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cI like to shout out my guy Brenden Schooler, who I think is going to be the next special teams great for our team,\u201d Slater\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/patriotswire.usatoday.com\/2023\/02\/09\/matthew-slater-believes-next-special-teams-great-patriots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">said<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0earlier this month.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Both Schooler and Marcus Jones\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/new-england-patriots\/messageboard\/threads\/new-article-two-patriots-named-to-pfwa%E2%80%99s-2022-all-rookie-team.1160156\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">received selections<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to the PFWA rookie team, but if the Patriots&#8217; special team unit is to get back on track, another year of Slater will go a long way in helping, even if he&#8217;s 37. Did you\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/chowderandchampions.com\/2023\/02\/21\/new-england-patriots-bringing-back-matthew-slater-good-thing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">know<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0he has had double-digit special teams tackles in 11 straight seasons?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">How it all plays out remains to be seen in February but Slater&#8217;s consistency and knowledge still in the locker room at least provides added promise heading into the draft and life beyond him when he does finally hang it up for a red (maybe gold) jacket.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Matthew Slater&#8217;s return to the Patriots for the 16th season provides needed leadership for a special team&#8217;s unit that struggled in 2022. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":16382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23229,11,10],"tags":[34,23130,22890,22987,459],"class_list":["post-45500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2023-patriots-offseason","category-patriots-commentary","category-patriots-news","tag-bill-belichick","tag-brenden-schooler","tag-cam-achord","tag-marcus-jones","tag-matthew-slater"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.4 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Patriots Special Teams 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