godtomsatan Posted February 18, 2007 Share Posted February 18, 2007 Rick Gosselin's annual rankings in the Dallas Morning News. Special teams ranked by performance in 22 categories which I found on a Seahawks blog, which noted the irony that the most major coaching change made by Mike Holmgren in the off-season was firing the special teams coach, even though the Seahawks improved from 25th in '05 to 7th this past season. The thing you note regarding playoff teams is that special teams performance is certainly no predictor of success. 1. Chicago 4. N.Y. Jets 7. Seattle 9. San Diego T10. New Orleans 12. Baltimore 13. Kansas City 15. Dallas 17. New England 19. N.Y. Giants 26. Indianapolis 28. Philadelphia Makes you wonder how irrelevant special teams actually are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piratesownninjas Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Because field position isnt important... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piratesownninjas Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 I guess next you're going to tell me that defense isnt important because the Colts had the worst rush defense and still won the championship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godtomsatan Posted February 19, 2007 Author Share Posted February 19, 2007 I guess next you're going to tell me that defense isnt important because the Colts had the worst rush defense and still won the championship. I was getting to that, but I was waiting for the proper data to prove such a point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rovers Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 If the Jets special teams weren't as good as they are, they don't make the playoffs last year. Field position and punters are much more game changing that most people care to believe. Having a return man like Hester or Miller has a big impact on field positiopn, something HC's talk about all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loyalboyd Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 If the Jets special teams weren't as good as they are, they don't make the playoffs last year. Field position and punters are much more game changing that most people care to believe. Having a return man like Hester or Miller has a big impact on field positiopn, something HC's talk about all the time. Very True. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilthorp Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 Consistency over the course of the year is very important, but only if you can couple that with a Top 10 defense. Throw a good 3rd down offense in the mix, and the special teams are less important. If you can't make first down conversions on third down and if you have an average defense, you better have a good ST unit if you're going to go anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursa Majoris Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 If the Jets special teams weren't as good as they are, they don't make the playoffs last year. Field position and punters are much more game changing that most people care to believe. Having a return man like Hester or Miller has a big impact on field positiopn, something HC's talk about all the time. +1. Without their special teams, there's no way the Bears are in the SB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godtomsatan Posted February 19, 2007 Author Share Posted February 19, 2007 If the Jets special teams weren't as good as they are, they don't make the playoffs last year. Field position and punters are much more game changing that most people care to believe. Having a return man like Hester or Miller has a big impact on field positiopn, something HC's talk about all the time. According to this Football Outsiders chart, the Jets ranked 15th in average starting field position (LOS/Dr category) on offense, and 10th on defense in 2006. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGrunt Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 I guess next you're going to tell me that defense isnt important because the Colts had the worst rush defense and still won the championship. The worst rush defense during the regular season that is... I'm still confused how they somehow pulled that one off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spain Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 The worst rush defense during the regular season that is... I'm still confused how they somehow pulled that one off. Two Words: Peyton Manning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donutrun Jellies Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 (edited) Where are the politically correct pandering coddlers on this? Why isn't some bleeding-heart self-esteem group proclaiming that "all teams are special"? How do you think the defenders feel that they are just "the defense" and not at all "special teams"? I bet they're defenseive about it. And on the other side of the ball? Well, some of them get to be "skill positions", but that's devise too! The O-Line is oppressed! I bet they take more offense to it than we know ... ALL TEAMS ARE SPECIAL!! Edited February 19, 2007 by Donutrun Jellies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Ryan Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 (edited) Ted Ginn - the next Devin Hester. Hester is the reason why the Bears are #1, and whoever gets Ginn, will skyrocket up these charts next yr. Field position is very important. A great kick return could put a team 1 first down away from a FG attempt, rather than a punt. Edited February 19, 2007 by Sgt. Ryan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Swerski Posted February 19, 2007 Share Posted February 19, 2007 The Pats wouldn't have won SB 36 without special teams. The Colts nearly lost the '06 AFC Championship Game becuase of special teams. Yeah, I'd say they're pretty important. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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