Well, it was only a few years ago that Crosby tried a free kick at the end of the half following a fair catch on a punt. His 69 yard attempt at Lambeau in December was dead center, and just barely short.
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what? They are pretty much terrible at every phase of special teams. The return game is the only phase of special teams that you can point to as being "ok."
As a sum of it's parts, the special teams units are horrendous. There is no amount of sugar coating anyone can do to intelligently argue against it.
Punt returns and punt return coverage have been good. They need to counter the block kick trend by finding the reincarnation of Chester Marcol, a kicker who knows what to do when the ball ends up in his stomach.
I have wondered ever since, if he had made the kick, would it have been considered the new record for longest field goal? Kind of seems like it should be it's own category, even though it would have had the result of a field goal.
Asterisk. I imagine it would go like this:
Rich Gannon: "Sebastian Janikowski is lining up for a a 65 yard field goal attempt, which would be the longest ever."
Kevin Harlan: "The longest from a hold - there was that 69 yard Crosby kick back in 2008, but that was a free kick."
Rich Gannon: "OK, thanks for that clarification Kevin. So there goes all my excitement."
FIRST TAKE SET
Skip Bayless: "Today's FG kickers can't hold the jock strap of kickers in the past. Artificial Turf, Domes, K balls, improvement in shoe technology all make today's accomplishments pale in comparison to the hero kickers of yesterday. Give me Roy Gerela any day of the week plus Sunday."
'Screamin' Stephen A. Smith: "Roy Gerela? How old are you? My father once told me that Chuck Noll once punted from the 28 yard line rather than trust Gerela to kick a 40+ yard FG! You cannot be serious that the best of all time include kickers who run away scared over 40 yards! Its ridiculous!"
Skip Bayless: "Coach Noll and his teammates all loved Roy like a brother. Out of that sense of brotherhood, they would have willed Roy 6 more yards in field position. They WOULD! I believe that with all my tiny, frozen heart."
I watched the free kick (punt) after the safety again and the culprit was clearly Jarrett Boykin. He and Brad Jones were lined up directly opposite the punter. (Why Brad Jones is lined up with the hands team I don't know.) Boykin was tracking the ball from the time the ball left the punter's foot. He should have easily had time to camp under the punt and wave for a fair catch. Problem is, he never gave the fair catch signal and wound up misjudging the ball, lunging for it at the last minute and probably touching it. It looked like he had a clear, unimpeded path to the ball. It also looked like he didn't have a clue what to do in that situation. So a co-culprit might be Slocum as well.
And we bitch about McCarthy? Caldwell's first head scratcher was going for it on 4th and TEN in the first half of the game around the 40 yard line. Then he challenges the down by contact play after the ball came out of Lacy's hands while Eddie was on the ground? Pure genius I tell ya.
I don't expect anything from Jones, but both Boykin and T.Will were right there and let it drop. Twill had the best look, because he was moving forward. Why he let it hit the ground, I have no idea. Probably neither did he. That's a Slocum fail. That might have been a good spot for a TO to make sure everyone knew what was going on. That's on Stubby and all the coaches as well as the players.
Exactly. Stubby's mind was probably occupied by which play he was going to call after GB got the ball. IMO, it's why he should delegate playcalling and concentrate on time and game management.
This failure seems like a small thing, but small failures like this result in losses in the playoffs.