SLOCUM IS GONE!

[Maxie the Taxi]

Maybe next year we'll read a story like this about GB...
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dal...s-rankings.ece

Kelly won the NFC East and presided over the NFC’s best offense in his debut season. But that first year was a learning experience and one of the lessons Kelly learned was that he needed better special teams.


Philadelphia finished 18th in the NFL in special teams in 2013, so Kelly undertook a sweeping upgrade last offseason.


Kelly traded for returner Darren Sproles and kicker Cody Parkey and signed a pair of special*-teams coverage aces in free agency, Bryan Braman from the Texans and Chris Maragos from the Seahawks. Kelly also hit on undrafted college free *agent Trey Burton and street free *agent Chris Prosinski for his coverage units.


The changes were dramatic. The Eagles vaulted all the way to the top of the league in special teams, finishing first in the 2014 NFL special*-teams rankings compiled annually by The Dallas Morning News.

Funny, same ST coach.

[pbmax]

Maybe next year we'll read a story like this about GB...
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dal...s-rankings.ece



Funny, same ST coach.

Yep, personnel makes the big difference.

However, 7 blocked kicks don't happen if the ST coach is doing his job. There may not be a big time KO returner but the lines of both offense and defense are strong enough to form a coherent blocking unit despite injuries.

[Joemailman]

Maybe next year we'll read a story like this about GB...
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dal...s-rankings.ece

Kelly won the NFC East and presided over the NFC’s best offense in his debut season. But that first year was a learning experience and one of the lessons Kelly learned was that he needed better special teams.


Philadelphia finished 18th in the NFL in special teams in 2013, so Kelly undertook a sweeping upgrade last offseason.


Kelly traded for returner Darren Sproles and kicker Cody Parkey and signed a pair of special*-teams coverage aces in free agency, Bryan Braman from the Texans and Chris Maragos from the Seahawks. Kelly also hit on undrafted college free *agent Trey Burton and street free *agent Chris Prosinski for his coverage units.


The changes were dramatic. The Eagles vaulted all the way to the top of the league in special teams, finishing first in the 2014 NFL special*-teams rankings compiled annually by The Dallas Morning News.

Funny, same ST coach.

The thing is though, they had the same win/loss record despite the vastly improved special teams play. Maybe they should have focused more on upgrading their defense. It is possible to place too much emphasis on special teams. You don't want to be terrible as the Packers were, but you don't have to be great either.