Exclusive NFL Special Teams Rankings: Are Packers Worst?
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ special teams are on fire.
And not in a good way.
Against the Chicago Bears on Sunday night, their kickoff coverage was torched. Their punt coverage was incinerated. And they almost were burned by ball-security issues on punt return, kickoff return and the onside-kick hands team.
“There was a lot of critical mistakes, obviously,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Monday. “On kickoff, can’t field the ball that potentially can go out of bounds and we get the ball backed up there on the 5-yard line, obviously. That was a critical mistake. The kickoff coverage, just didn’t do a very good job of playing certain blocks where we got two guys basically in the same gap and gave up the two big returns. Punt, [Corey Bojorquez has] been a huge addition but anytime you’ve got a returner like (Jakeem) Grant out there, it’s dangerous if you put the ball in the middle of the field.”
And on and on it went. On kickoff, two long returns and an out-of-bounds kick gave the Bears the ball at or past the 40 three times. On punt, Jakeem Grant returned one for a 97-yard touchdown and another for 34 yards to set up a field goal. On kickoff return, even had Malik Taylor fielded the ball cleanly, he would have run himself out of bounds. On punt return, Amari Rodgers fielded the ball with his helmet for a turnover but was let off the hook by a Chicago penalty. And at the end of the game, Marquez Valdes-Scantling couldn’t field the onside kick to give the Bears the faintest of pulses.
That’s eight enormous miscues. That’s more than the league’s better special teams will have in an entire season.
Otherwise, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?
While the kickoff coverage was excellent during the second half and Mason Crosby made all seven kicks, coordinator Maurice Drayton has work to do. A lot of work to do. And there’s not much time to find solid ground.
Green Bay is last in the Packer Central Special Teams Rankings. In their ninth year, our five-category rankings include starting field position after kickoffs (for and against), net punting (for and against) and field-goal percentage. Green Bay is in the top 20 in only one category, net punting, where Bojorquez has gone from second in the NFL at the bye to 19th due in large part to Sunday’s nightmare, which included a 22-yard punt.
Green Bay is 31st in starting field position following a kickoff return, 22nd in opponent net punting average, 24th in opponent starting field position following a kickoff, 19th in net punting and 31st in field-goal percentage.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. LaFleur said starters would be sprinkled into the units to help right a sinking ship.
“I think we’re getting to that point where it’s all hands on deck, and we’re going to have to ask guys to maybe do a little bit more,” he said. “I think Rasul’s such a great example because you saw the contributions he made defensively and then he had a critical play” on the Rodgers muff in which he baited the Bears’ gunner to step out of bounds for a penalty.
The bad news is Green Bay will face Baltimore on Sunday. The Ravens’ always-strong groups rank third. Second-year receiver Devin Duvernay is one of the top returners in the NFL. The better news: Of the top NFC playoff contenders, Dallas is 10th but Arizona is 22nd, Los Angeles is 24th and Tampa Bay is 29th.
The Packers were 24th earlier this season, when Drayton proclaimed, “We’re going take these baby steps and just keep going on it, making it bigger. And by the end of the season, we’ll be where we need to be, when it really counts.”
Green Bay was 19th last season, a ranking boosted by Crosby’s perfect season on field goals.
In the larger rankings assembled annually by Rick Gosselin, the Packers have been consistently bad on special teams. They’ve finished 20th or worse in six of the past eight seasons, including 29th last year, 26th in 2019, 32nd in 2018, 29th in 2016 and 32nd in 2014. They have not fielded a top-10 unit since 2007.
Packer Central Special Teams Rankings
