Green Bay Packers: Week 16 special teams recap

Packers: With their playoff hopes relying on another win, Green Bay came up with their fifth straight victory — this time over the Minnesota Vikings by a 38-25 margin.

The offense managed to reach the endzone five times, with Aaron Rodgers providing his best showing of the 2016 season.

The defense picked up a couple of turnovers and played pretty well before they adjusted to a more prevent-style defense after they had built a huge lead.

The special teams made their own contributions, and generally those came out positive.

Let’s look deeper into that, shall we?

Oct 9, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers kicker Mason Crosby (2) during the game against the New York Giants at Lambeau Field. Green Bay won 23-16. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Mason Crosby

Kickoffs:

Scoring:

As expected, Crosby put in another good showing.

On his seven kickoffs, only two didn’t go for touchbacks — that’s huge against a team with deadly return ability such as Minnesota. Also, of those two which didn’t reach the end zone, one was a squibbed kick with little time remaining before the half – in essence protecting Green Bay from a potential game-changing return.

In terms of scoring attempts, Crosby was completely on-target. He made a field goal from nearly 50 yards out to help Green Bay garner a 31-13 advantage in the second half, and he put through all five of his extra point attempts. In all, he accounted for eight of Green Bay’s 30 points.

There may be other kickers with better reputations and name recognition around the league, but few are truly better than the man wearing #2 for the Packers.

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:

It’s kind of rare to see a punter take a half-dozen attempts in a game where his offense scores six times, but that’s what occurred for Schum against the Vikings.

Most of his punts were solid on the afternoon; despite low gross yardage overall, five of the six were either not returnable or went nowhere. Overall, the performance was pretty decent because of that.

There were issues here, however. That first punt ended up as a touchback, giving Green Bay a mere 19-yard net gain right at the beginning of the game. The final punt was not a good showing either. It was his shortest of the afternoon, barely reaching into Minnesota territory; with a large return, it not only resulted in a net gain of just 18 yards but it set Minnesota up deep in Green Bay territory on what became a touchdown for the Vikings.

With the deficiency in power which Schum faces, his team must work toward giving him better situations in which to punt, as well as try to limit just how many attempts he has to make. When his attempt numbers rise, his effectiveness plummets; along with that, the sheer odds of an error occurring skyrockets.

Keep his usage low, and Schum can be a positive contributor. We’ve seen that for most of this season’s second half, and we can see it again.

Dec 24, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers

The Return Units

Punts:

Kickoffs:

With Randall Cobb out, it appeared the return unit would take a hit, especially on punt returns. Micah Hyde showed off some of his prior usefulness in this role, however.

As the punt returner for the Packers in this game, Hyde consistently helped put his offense in favorable starting position. Three of his five attempts were brought up for at least 10 yards; Green Bay would turn two of those into points. He took a fair catch on another, minimizing the potential risk of a negative play.

He did muff the fifth attempt — a potentially bad outcome, to be sure — but a quick recovery prevented it from being picked up by Minnesota and used as the catalyst for their comeback attempt. All in all, his efforts made the sort of positive difference we haven’t often seen with consistency from the Packers punt return guys.

The kick return unit wasn’t as stellar. There were still some good aspects to their efforts (three of six kickoffs were returned beyond the touchback zone — two of which began outside the end zone), but there were the sort of errors which could have potentially caused much more damage in a closer game situation for the Packers.

The first was a penalty on the third kickoff; it moved Green Bay from an already-negative starting spot to well within their own 10 yard line. From there, Green Bay had to punt from deep in their own territory, providing Minnesota starting field position approaching midfield. The second was on the final kickoff, where the Packers failed to recover an onside kick.

Neither of those ended up hurting Green Bay in this one — the penalty punt drive turned into a Vikings fumble, while the onside kick came with far too little time remaining for an actual comeback — but mistakes like that in a close game may spell the end of Green Bay’s season. With Detroit up next (artists of eight different comeback wins this year alone) and (hopefully) the playoffs afterward, this cannot keep happening.

Dec 24, 2016; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers defensive back Kentrell Brice (29) and free safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix (21) tackle Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Stefon Diggs (14) in the third quarter at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Adam Wesley/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin via USA TODAY Sports

The Coverage Units

Punts:

Kickoffs:

Despite the high number of possible opportunities for returns by the opposition, only a few actually turned into anything for the Vikings.

On the punt returns, only one of the six picked up any yardage at all. Two of those five had zero chance, but the other three either became fair catches or no gains due to the strong coverage. The final one was a mishap, and though it didn’t end up hurting them it did result in a touchdown drive for the Vikings; issues like that must be kept out, as it could have ruined a great overall showing from them if this had been a closer game.

The kick return unit was spared from much work, with only two returnable kicks with which to deal. One of them was a squib with little time left before the half, so that isn’t a worry. The other isn’t much to worry about either, but it did give the Vikings decent starting position. Part of that was due to it being a short kick (only reached the Minnesota 12), but short kicks are a strategy all their own, and the extra hangtime added to them should allow those returners to get to the opposition in short order. Still, with only 19 yards being added once the returner got his hands on the ball, it was a passable outcome.

Looking at the special teams unit as a whole, it was a positive effort which definitely helped Green Bay, assisting their offense with great starting position on numerous occasions while mostly limiting their usually-strong return game.

For a team without a game breaker in the return game and a clearly limited punter, that’s about the best for which you can hope.