Where Are Under-Siege Packers in Latest NFL Special Teams Rankings?

While kicker Brandon McManus is out of his funk and Daniel Whelan is having a record-setting season, the Green Bay Packers’ special teams remain a problem. That was evident again in Saturday’s disastrous loss at the Bears.

Green Bay Packers receiver Romeo Doubs (87) mishandles an onside kick against the Chicago Bears. | Dan Powers-USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images

GREEN BAY, Wis. – With Christmas on the horizon, the Green Bay Packers’ chronically underperforming special teams will receive another lump of coal.

In our latest Packers On SI NFL Special Teams Rankings, the Packers are 23rd. The good news is they’re improving. The were 24th after their Week 5 bye and 26th after Week 13. The bad news is that growth was fumbled away in Saturday’s crucial loss to the Chicago Bears.

First, here’s how our rankings work. Because special teams are all about field position, that’s the focus.

In the chart below, the first column is net punting average. That’s the field position acquired by a punt and measures the full impact of the punting team. A 50-yard punt with an 8-yard return is, obviously, better than a 60-yard punt (great for the punter) that yields a 20-yard return or a 35-yard punt that allows a 0-yard return (great for punt coverage). The second column is opponent net punting average. That’s the impact of the punt-return unit.

The third column is kickoff coverage, as measured by opponent starting field position after a kickoff. The fourth column is kickoff return, as measured by starting field position following a kickoff return. The fifth column is field-goal percentage.

The rankings are added together for a point total. The lower the score, the better.

NFL Special Teams Rankings

NFL Special Teams Rankings Through Week 16 | Bill Huber/Packers On SI

Going Inside the Numbers

Because of Daniel Whelan, the Packers are 11th in net punting average. His 51.3-yard average is tied for the NFL lead – a staggering feat considering where he kicks – and his net average is 42.6. Both figures are on pace to break franchise records. 

Really, his only fault is having 13 inside-the-20 punts vs seven touchbacks. That’s about a 2-to-1 ratio; the league median is almost 5-to-1.

The Packers opened the season with Matthew Golden as their punt returner but, because every kick was an adventure, they opted to replace him with receiver Romeo Doubs. Doubs hasn’t produced much yardage, resulting in the Packers ranking 27th in opponent net average, but he’s caught the ball and made the right decisions.

“He’s been doing a heck of a job in the practice parts of the return game. So, hopefully, we can kind of get him going,” special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said. “He’s been doing a really good job in the red zone of when to block and when to fair catch and when to let the ball go.”

Green Bay is 14th in opponent starting field position after a kickoff. The coverage has been a strong point all season, even after linebacker Nick Niemann, who was on a prolific tackling pace, was lost for the season.

On the other hand, it’s 21st in starting field position after a kickoff. Rookie Savion Williams has been OK as the returner, but neither Williams nor Bo Melton have gotten close to breaking one. The Packers’ longest return is 36 yards; that’s the shortest long of the year.

Brandon McManus has kicked his midseason slump to the curb. After an injury led to a series of missed kicks and sent him to the basement in terms of field-goal percentage. McManus has rounded into form. Since being inactive at the Giants in Week 11, McManus the last five games is 13-of-13 on extra points and 11-of-11 on field goals. So, that Green Bay ranks 23rd probably isn’t a fair assessment of where the kicking game stands entering the final two games of the season.

The Elephant In the Room

The Packers are 9-5-1 after losing to Chicago. Had Brandon McManus not had a field-goal blocked in the final moments at Cleveland, the Packers probably would have won that game. A week later, McManus had an extra point blocked that was returned for two points by the Cowboys. If not for that turning-point play, the Packers might have won that game.

Bisaccia’s units got their act together after that and, by and large, had at least held their own. That all changed on one play at Chicago on Saturday night. Had sure-handed Romeo Doubs fielded the Bears’ onside kickoff, the Packers probably would have won that game.

Other than Javon Bullard, the play wasn’t blocked particularly well, but Doubs let the ball come to him rather than attacking it. Doubs “1,000 percent” took the blame, and his teammates had his back.

“At the end of the day, we’re all accountable for the things that we feel we should do,” Bullard said. “We already know what type of player Rome is and the type of person that he is. Sometimes the ball just don’t fall your way. That’s just how it is. Of course, we all want to make that play but none of us are perfect.”

Without those three colossal blunders, the Packers would be entering Week 17 with a 12-3 record. They would have been in the mix for the No. 1 seed, swept the Bears and clinched the NFC North.

“I get it. You’re looking at three plays that are killer plays,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said on Sunday, “but I think if you look at the totality, I think our teams have done a pretty good job, especially when you look at our coverage units.

“I know we’re sound in what we do and I think guys have been competing, and it’s not like we’re giving up huge returns and things of that nature. It’s just unfortunate that there’s been a couple moments where it just kind of puts a black cloud over whatever’s been done.”

With the season on the line, the Packers will face the gold-standard Ravens on Saturday and the Vikings in Week 18. Baltimore is fourth in our rankings; its head coach, John Harbaugh, cut his teeth on special teams. The Vikings are 10th.

Green Bay’s special teams have been terrible for two decades. They’ve had only one top-10 finish during that span, and that was 2007. Usually, the results were based on lack of investment. The Packers had neophyte coordinators and used end-of-benchers in key roles.

Not anymore. LaFleur hired Bisaccia, who’s in his fourth year on the job and was (and perhaps is) the highest-paid special teams coordinator in the league. They paid their kicker, punter and long snapper. They have used veterans in key roles. And yet, same as it’s been for years, a successful day on special teams is a day without a critical mistake.

Even with that low bar, the special teams have let the Packers down too often this season. Bisaccia is being paid handsomly to do it but, considering he hasn't done it in four years, there is no reason to believe he can turn it around now.

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