Green Bay Packers: Week 14 special teams recap

Dec 11, 2016; Green Bay, WS, USA; Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jeff Janis (83) celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter as the Green Bay Packers host the Seattle Seahawks at Lambeau Field. Mandatory credit: Adam Wesley/Green Bay Press Gazette via USA TODAY NETWORK

In their most impressive effort of the season, the Green Bay Packers dominated the Seattle Seahawks to get themselves to 7-6, firmly asserting themselves within the playoff race in the NFC.

The offense was firing on all cylinders from the start, eventually dropping 38 points on the vaunted Seattle defense (albeit without Earl Thomas) despite Aaron Rodgers sitting out most of the second half.

The defense manhandled the Seahawks offense behind a six-pack of turnovers and bad play all around for Russell Wilson and Co.

How about the special teams?

Well, if there is any area needing some improvement following this excellent team effort, it probably would be this group.

Start off with Crosby.

Nov 28, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Green Bay Packers kicker Mason Crosby (2) kicks a field goal against the Philadelphia Eagles during the second half at Lincoln Financial Field. The Green Bay Packers won 27-13. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Mason Crosby

Kickoffs:

Scoring:

Plenty to pick away at with Crosby this time around.

His kickoffs had a tendency to fall short of the end zone; that may have been part of the gameplan to try and limit Tyler Lockett’s ability to pick up a head of steam, but it never made a positive tangible impact in this contest. Each of his first four non-touchbacks ended up beyond touchback range on the return; only one of those began in the end zone. That final kick was a unique chain of events — started 15 yards back due to a penalty following the touchdown, was returned to the Seattle 40, then got taken back inside the Seattle 20 after a Seahawks penalty.

The scoring was mostly routine, but we saw another early miss. The distance must be taken into account (50+ yarders are not chip shots), but for a guy with the leg strength of Crosby it will already bring a little extra grimace to see it miss. That miss came early in the game too, so it could have had a large negative effect if Russell Wilson hadn’t been handing out interceptions like Santa Claus all day. To go with that miss and a make, Crosby also belted through 5 PAT kicks (which, due to blocks happening just about every week, are not close to the sure thing they once were).

Better kickoffs and converting all field goal attempts need to be areas Crosby focuses on fixing for the final three games; the final two look to be much closer than this one was, and every point will matter that much more.

Sep 18, 2016; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Green Bay Packers punter Jacob Schum (10) against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Vikings defeated the Packers 17-14. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Jacob Schum

Punts:

Yardage-wise, this wasn’t a great showing for Schum. Situationally however, he did a solid job.

With Lockett on the other end of his punts, it was a smart move to take measures to prevent a big return from happening. Putting the ball out with enough hang time for two fair catches was good; kicking another nearly 50 yards right out of bounds was better.

The only bad kick was the one which was downed. It traveled just 32 yards, but based on where Schum was kicking from it gave Seattle a strong starting point for their drive. It didn’t hurt the team here, but in most weeks it has a good chance of doing so.

Still, an overall good showing from Schum based on the circumstances. Without the same return game worry coming against the Bears, we should see those distance numbers take a jump back to his recent heights.

Dec 11, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers wide receiver Randall Cobb (18) tries to get past Seattle Seahawks linebacker K.J. Wright (50) in the second quarter at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

The Return Units

Punts:

Kickoffs:

The unit had shown up in a big way the past few weeks, but it isn’t a surprise they did little here. Seattle has a good kicker/punter combo in Steven Hauschka/Jon Ryan, and some regression back to the mean after a few outliers was always likely.

All the unit really had to do was not make mistakes; for the most part, they did that. Fair catches and short returns saw the Packers start at the expected spots after five of these kicks. The two others produced mixed results.

The bad one came on the fourth punt. It was a good return on its own by Micah Hyde, but a penalty by Josh Hawkins took the ball back inside the Packers’ 15 yard line. It didn’t hurt them (huge lead by that point), but that sort of mistake at the wrong time could derail a key drive before it starts; in closer games, that may be the starting point for a loss.

The good play was the onside kick recovery. The game was basically sealed already, but it has some level of positive catharsis to see Green Bay calmly recover an onside kick against Seattle. Doesn’t make up for the Bostick failure two years ago, but it’s nice nonetheless.

Jul 28, 2016; Green Bay,WI, USA; Green Bay Packers rookie cornerback Josh Hawkins (28) participates in drills during the training camp across from Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark Hoffman/ via USA TODAY Sports

The Coverage Units

Punts:

Kickoffs:

Part of the coverage issues in this one came from the apparent plan to kick the ball short on kickoffs, but the blame lies more firmly at their feet than Crosby’s.

If it was the plan, they knew he’d be kicking shorter, and should have quickly adjusted accordingly; if they didn’t, there was still plenty of time for them to get down the field and do something about it. The only one I won’t really put blame on them for is the final kickoff, but that one just so happened to come back on a Seattle penalty so the long yardage return wouldn’t have hurt anyway.

The punts saw their best work, in my eyes. They successfully forced fair catches by closing in fast on Lockett as the punt came down (Schu’s hangtime surely helped on some level, but still). The downed punt helped save some more yardage from being taken away from Schum’s one notably bad attempt off the bounce.

Overall, this part of the group has plenty of small things to clean up. With a least one remaining dangerous returner left on the schedule the Packers best be a little quicker across the group, lest they give up too much yardage in what likely will be a closely-contested matchup.