The stellar special teams battle that could determine Super Bowl 49
The special teams battle could decide Super Bowl 49
Here’s a little secret that they don’t want you to know about in the NFL: Coaches, general managers and players often pay lip service when it comes to special-teams play.
You may be scratching your head right now. You can picture head coaches analyzing their team’s chances of winning in a particular week, and boldly declaring that they must win the battle on “offense, defense and special teams.”
That would be nice, but the truth of the matter is that the players who do most of the work on special teams are almost always backups who aren’t good enough to start on offense and defense. They may have talent and athletic ability, but they are not the best of the best.
Head coaches know this, but they tell their special-teams coaches to take some of these leftover players and make a solid contribution on special teams.
It’s difficult to do, because no matter how thoughtful or creative a special teams coach is, his players just may not be good enough to make game-changing plays.
But in Super Bowl XLIX, there will be no dearth of talent or ability on special teams. The Patriots have been getting big plays in coverage and in the return game all season, while placekicker Stephen Gostkowski may be the most reliable clutch kicker in all of football.
The Seahawks would not be in the Super Bowl if it were not for their special teams. Seattle was trailing Green Bay 16-0 with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter when a promising drive stalled at the Packer 19-yard line. Head coach Pete Carroll sent placekicker Steven Hauschka onto the field to attempt a field goal. However, when holder Jon Ryan caught the snap and placed the ball on the ground, he quickly picked it up and scrambled to his left.
The Packers closed on Ryan, but he saw undrafted rookie offensive tackle Garry Gilliam free in the endzone. Ryan let the ball go and hit Gilliam between the numbers for the much-needed touchdown. The Seahawks had life thanks to a huge special teams play.
The Seahawks saved their season with another special teams play late in the fourth quarter. After Russell Wilson had scored on a one-yard run with 2:09 left to draw Seattle within five points at 19-14, the Seahawks were forced to go for an onside kick. There was no doubt about the strategy, since Carroll’s team was out of timeouts.
Hauschka bounded a high kick to the right side of the formation, and Green Bay’s Brandon Bostick went up to catch it. Instead, the ball bounded into his hands and out just as quickly. Seattle’s Chris Matthews alertly captured the rebound on the Seattle 50.
The Seahawks went on to score and take the lead, and they would eventually win the game in overtime.
All in all, it was a spectacular day for Seattle special teams coach Brian Schneider.
The Seahawks actually struggled with their special-teams play throughout the regular season. They ranked 19th in all-around play, as opponents won the battle in the punt return and kickoff return game. Seattle averaged just 7.0 yards per punt return, but gave up 11.5 yards on opponents’ punt returns. While the difference was not as pronounced in kickoff returns – 21.0-to-24.1 – they still struggled to contain opponents.
Seahawks return specialists Bryan Walters (7.7 yards per punt return) and Paul Richardson (23.5 yards per kickoff return) are both decent, but they are not big-play threats.
What makes those figures even more pronounced is that the Seahawks had the best coverage teams in the NFL in a year ago. It was nearly impossible for anyone to make any kind of positive play when returning punts against Seattle.
The Patriots have been the model of consistency on special teams all season, as coach Scott O’Brien’s unit ranked fifth during the regular season. However, it didn’t start out that way as Ryan Allen had his first punt of the season blocked in the opener by the Miami Dolphins. However, special teams have dominated for New England since then.
No player has been better than wideout Matthew Slater, who mans one of the gunner position on the punt coverage team. He has 16 tackles to lead the Patriots in that category, and his quickness and consistency allowed him to become one of the team’s leaders.
In addition to consistent coverage on both punt (9.2 yards) and kickoff (21.2) returns, the Pats have two excellent return men in wideouts Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola. Edelman averaged 12.0 yards per return in the regular season and had an 84-yard TD return, while Amendola averaged 24.1 yards per kickoff return with a long of 81 yards.
When it comes to the kicking game, both teams are in good shape. Gostkowski has been as consistent as a metronome, and he made 35-of-37 FG attempts this year. Allen averaged 46.4 yards per punt, and he dropped 25 of his 66 kicks inside the opponents’ 20-yard line.
Hauschka did not have his best year, but he made 31-of-37 FG attempts this season, and Carroll has complete confidence in him. Ryan averaged 44.1 yards per punt, and he placed 28 of his 61 punts inside the 20-yard line.
Both of these teams have proved themselves on special teams for several seasons. The Seahawks didn’t perform as well in that area as they did last year, but they made huge plays when they needed them most.
Belichick knows that his special teams are capable of making a game-winning play at any time.
Neither the Seahawks nor the Patriots play their best players on special teams, and for that reason, they are no different than the other 30 teams in the league. However, both teams have more high-level players on special teams than nearly any team in the league.
The likelihood is that players like Tom Brady, Wilson, Rob Gronkowski, Marshawn Lynch, Darrelle Revis or Richard Sherman will make the game-changing play. But it just might come down to Slater, Ryan, Gostkowski or Hauschka.
Give the slightest of edges to the Patriots, based on Gostkowski’s excellence and their coverage team’s consistency over the full season.