In another example of time being a flat circle, five weeks into the NFL season and the special teams unit is among the top stories for the Green Bay Packers.
This season, the Packers special teams unit has seen a number of plays, both good and bad, that have had a major impact on the results of games.
While special teams do not get as much credit as the offense or the defense, that third aspect to the game is as important as the other two, and in some cases, more important. Teams need to have good special teams play to take that next step.
Looking at the big ticket teams in recent memory, almost all of them have had an elite special teams unit.
Bill Belichick’s emphasis on special teams was a major reason why the Patriots were so dominant throughout the 2000s and 2010s. John Harbaugh came up as a special teams coordinator and as a head coach turned the Baltimore Ravens into a juggernaut in the AFC. Even Andy Reid has consistently seen strong special teams play with kicker Harrison Butker and kick returners Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman in his time with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Among other teams, those three franchises in general have had great quarterback play and really solid defenses, but it was special teams that really took them over the top. Looking at this year’s iteration of the Green Bay Packers, through five weeks, the team has had great quarterback play and really solid defensive play, the thing missing from being in the same conversation as the elite teams is the special teams.
That is not to say that the special teams have been bad. Daniel Whelan continues to look like the best punter in the NFL every time he steps on the field, and Brandon McManus finally gave the Packers a safe option at the kicker position since Mason Crosby left the team. But as is the case with any unsung unit, it has been that the negatives have outweighed the positives.
On something as simple as a snap, hold and kick, Green Bay has not won two games because of an issue with the blocking up front. A blocked field goal in Cleveland prevented Green Bay from not losing on the Browns game-winning field goal, while a blocked extra point that got returned for two points against Dallas started a series of miscues that led to a 40-40 tie.
What has been a flurry of game-changing mistakes for the Packers in the third aspect of the game over the past half decade has really limited the team’s success.
To avoid those mistakes in the future, coach Matt LaFleur said that there have been some conversations and attempts to rearrange the special teams unit to bring success in the future.
“We shuffled some personnel around,” he said. “If we can clean up those catastrophic errors, which is a big if, we will be in a lot better spot. And I am confident that we shuffled around some personnel, and it looks a lot cleaner right now.”
On top of the miscues on field goal attempts, there has been somewhat of work-in-progress with the kick and punt returners. Fans have become accustomed to seeing Keisean Nixon and Jayden Reed return kicks and punts for the Packers recently, but with Reed injured and Nixon taking on a larger role on the defensive side of the ball, the return game has been handed over to rookie receivers Matthew Golden and Savion Williams.
“We feel like they give us the best chance at being successful,” said LaFleur.
The obvious point to make against these two returning kicks is the lack of experience, but LaFleur went on to say that a way to mitigate some issues in the return game is to stay on the field.
“You have to get experience one way or the other,” said LaFleur. “They do a great job in practice, and I get it games are a little bit different than practice, especially when you are catching kicks. We have a lot of confidence in both of those guys and believe that they are going to continue to get better and better.”
As is always the case, bad plays are going to outweigh the routine plays in a mundane system like special teams, but as a whole Green Bay has not been horrible on special teams. It is just about cleaning up those costly mistakes to make strides of reaching the pinnacle that fans know this team can get to.
