Special Day for Special Teams in Carolina and Michael Clay Had Much to Say
PHILADELPHIA – Michael Clay wasn’t supposed to speak to the media this week, because of the quick turnaround between Sunday’s game in Carolina and Thursday’s home game against Tampa Bay.
Eagles PR made the special team coordinator available on Tuesday, however, because when you have a game like the Eagles' special teams units had on Sunday, well, there’s no better time to talk.
Basically, it was an up-and-down game for Clay’s special teams, but two of the game’s biggest plays, and two of the biggest plays of the five-week-old season, were pivotal in the 21-18 win over the Panthers.
They were the blocked punt from T.J. Edwards in cahoots with Shaun Bradley and Jake Elliott’s 58-yard field goal, which was the third-longest in team history behind the 61-yarder he made in 2017 and the 59-yarder Tony Franklin drilled in 1979.
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On the punt block, that came with 3:53 to play, the Eagles needed to make something happen for a struggling offense, Edwards came up the middle after Shaun Bradley cleared the way for him and took on the up-the-middle blocker.
As good of a play as it was, Clay and his assistants, ST quality control coach Tyler Brown and assistant ST coordinator Joe Pannuzio, saw something in Carolina’s protections that they were able to exploit after seeing them do on one of their earlier punts.
Edwards and Bradley came to the sideline and said they can block one.
“Having the conversation with Shaun and T.J., I'm, like, ‘Hey, let's do our rush, but go to the check,’” said Clay. “They went to the check. They ran it perfectly, and at first, I thought T.J. overran it because it got so clean, and it hit him in the bicep, but luckily, I think we paid a little bit of our dues, and we finally got one.
"It helped swing the momentum for the game, and it helped us win, which is all we want to do being that special teams unit.”
Clay said both Bradley and Edwards told him to go with the check. Clay didn’t hesitate.
“Shoot, it's a player's league, baby,” he said. “Go and get you one. Luckily, they did, and it worked out for us.”
The block set up the Eagles 27-yard game-winning TD drive.
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As for Elliott’s long boot, which came as time expired in the first half and pulled the Eagles to within 15-6, Clay said he believed it was the momentum-swing for the entire special teams unit, which had some dicey plays in the first two quarters.
“You know, you go in, and 15-3 is way different than 15-6, so him to hit that 58-yarder and change the momentum gave us a little bit of a boost,” said Clay.
Some of the first-half woes for the special teams included a 16-yard punt from Arryn Siposs, where there was pressure coming at him, and a pair of kickoff returns from several yards deep in the end zone from Jalen Reagor.
On the short punt, Clay said, “It was a little breakdown in protection. It had nothing to do with Arryn. Arryn has been doing a heck of a job. And our punt protection has been doing a very good job with it.
“It's just one of those times where when you see a lighter box, you think, ‘All right, I got to go cover.’ But we still got to remain disciplined, and we can't cover unless that ball is punted, so it's one of those things, and, you know, I didn't have to go to the guys. The guys came to me and were, like, ‘Hey, that's on me.’”
Reagor’s decisions are hard to fault for a player trying to make a play and who has the ability to do it in Reagor.
His first try ended at the 22, not terrible considering touchbacks come to the 25.
His second, though, he hesitated briefly before bringing the kick out. He was cut down at the 16 and that was when Jason Kelce sailed a high snap over Jalen Hurts' head that led to a safety, extending the Panthers’ lead to 15-3.
“There may be some opportunities where we like to be a little bit smarter in the kickoff return game, but it's also one of those things where you get guys like that that want to be aggressive,” said Clay.
“It's a double-edged sword. Obviously, we saw against Kansas City, Jalen gets the 44-yarder. Then, the first kickoff return, he is feeling juiced up. Gets it to the 22. Not going to hurt you too bad. Probably the second one that he did return probably - and he knew it.”
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Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
