N/S Interesting article about Special Teams losing importance (yeah right, tell that to us!) (1 Viewer)

[guillermo]

“It used to be that we had 22 actual special teams plays per game, not counting field goals and non-plays,” Westhoff says. “When I was with the Jets, we were a big part of the success. Now we wouldn’t be. You want me to coach five or six plays? I don’t need it.”
Perhaps no other aspect of pro football has changed as quickly, with the possible exception of the fullback. In 2007, the year before the league started tinkering with kickoff rules, the NFL saw an alltime high of 42 combined kicks and punts returned for touchdowns. This year we are on pace for a combined 21.

Rest of the article:

How NFL Return Men Became an Endangered Species | The MMQB with Peter King

So it seems that these days if you are a Special Teams Coach, and want to be effective, you should find a punter that can constantly punt the ball out of bounds, outside of the twenty, a reliable kicker and learn to live with your third choice of punt/kick returner, since you will not have a choice of the people playing on that unit.

It seems to me that the saints, unlike other teams, always prioritize the special teams qualities of depth players (Stupar, Mauti, Lasco, etc) so it does not make sense to me what is really happening with that unit.

Maybe it is just poor choices all around.

 

[duckjr78]

I agree, "Teams" is no longer as important as it once was.

If anything, it makes the Saints' struggles even more laughable, because there aren't as many "plays" to be concerned with. Logically, you need to be just good enough on those few plays to not have huge, game changing mistakes.

Missed field goals suck, but they don't lose games all by themselves as a general rule. The same goes for punts that aren't overly long, but still go out of bounds or are high enough to result in a fair catch.

Repeated kicks (punts, field goals, or kickoffs) that get returned for points by the other team are unforgivable, unless you are able to do the same.

It's just like the turnover ratio. If yours is negative at the end of the year, your are WAY behind the 8 ball.

In this correlation, the Saints aren't even on the felt this year.
Heck, they don't even have a quarter up on the table for "Next."

 

[SAINTIN NEBR]

I saw three teams this year pull the jump over the long snapper Seattle, Denver, and New England, all successful blocks of the field goal or extra point.. Don't tell me Special Teams plays are not important.. Not buying it.