Week 14: 3rd Quarter, 4th & 19 from KC 35

On 4th & 19 from their own 35 the Chiefs line up in a standard spread pro punt formation, with three blockers to each side of the center, a personal protector, and a gunner split out wide to each side. The ball is on the left hash. The Patriots have eight men up, a jammer on each gunner, and one returner. Although they start with four men on each side, the Patriots shift to six right and two left from the punter’s perspective just before the snap with almost no space between them:

But the Chiefs don’t adjust in any manner. Even if the long snapper and the entire right side of the punt team block the most inside man, the Patriots would have two outside rushers free. Instead, the right guard steps out to block (#18) Matthew Slater, and (#43) Nate Ebner runs free up the middle to block the punt:

And it looks like (#29) Justin Bethel would have reached the block point as well. So what could the Chiefs have done differently? First, the personal protector likely should have switched to the overloaded side. He may not have because the punter is left footed. Or because the Chiefs called a fake punt but apparently weren’t on the same page. A 6-2 overload is a great look to fake a punt against! Next, the Chiefs could have brought in their gunner to a tight split. This creates a greater distance to the block point for the unblocked outside rusher.

Week 4: 6:30 left in 1st Quarter, 4th & 14 from Buf 32

The Bills line up in a standard punt formation. This time, the Patriots line up five left and four right:

Although the Bills’ punter is left footed, the personal protector is set to the right. This may be because the right outside jammer comes down late and rushes. But the jammer probably can’t get near the block point from so far outside, and the Bills could have tightened their own gunner’s split in response. Instead, a low snap allows for the unblocked Patriot (#27 J.C. Jackson) time to get there:

Week 12: 3rd Quarter, 5:51 remaining, 4th & 12 from Dal 30

The Patriots other two blocked punts stem from their execution combined with their opponent’s miscues. Below, the Cowboys are in the same punt formation. The Patriots have five rushers left and three right, but the Cowboys are prepared. With the personal protector toward the lefty punter’s foot they can matchup and block both sides:

But Matthew Slater (#18) beats the left tackle, bends hard, and blocks the punt. Note Slater’s excellent form in avoiding a penalty—he does not dive in front of the punter. Instead, his body and momentum are off to the side, with his arm low and extended to block the punt:

Week 6:06 remaining in the 1st Quarter, 4th & 9 at NYG 19

The blocked punt against the Giants is pure execution and effort from (#38) Brandon Bolden. The Patriots don’t appear to have a block scheme on. Given the two left five right alignment with multiple jammers on the right gunner, a left return is the most likely call. The Giants are not outnumbered. But Bolden bull rushes aggressively, bends towards the block point, and pushes the right tackle back far enough to block the kick:

A few trends emerge from the four blocked punts. All four were on 4th & 9 or more with the ball was placed inside the opponent’s own 35 yard line. This allows punt block teams to be more aggressive for two reasons. First, a running into the kicker penalty does not cause a first down. Second, the punting team is less likely to try a fake because of the combination of the yardage to gain and field position.

Three had an overload rush to the punter’s foot. And all four blocked punts occurred in relatively “innocuous” time situations in the 1st and 3rd quarters of games. This is an important takeaway for coaches and fans alike; “must have” blocked punts are the most difficult to execute because the punt team is quite aware of the situation.

One other significant observation: none of the blocked punts had particularly elaborate schemes outside of shifting before the snap and outnumbering the punt team. None, for example, had multiple twists to cause confusion:

Credit: Chuck Zodda, http://insidethepylon.com/film-study/film-study-nfl/special-teams-film-study-nfl/2015/12/10/eagles-punt-block-exploited-patriots-protection/

Sometimes execution and technique reign supreme; the Patriots take excellent angles to the punter and know the block point. They also have ideal hand placement keep themselves in position to avoid roughing the punter. Special Teams is a priority in New England.

Finally, these examples also provide lessons for punt teams. You must have a plan when an opponent shifts pre-snap, whether it be moving personal protectors, tightening gunners, or being aggressive and calling a fake.

The post Breaking Down the 2019 Patriots’ 4 Blocked Punts appeared first on Syed Schemes.

In our first three games, we gave up four kickoff returns of over 75 yards. Our opponents average starting field position was inside our territory, while we had a starting field position inside our own 25 yard line. We started 0-3. Luckily we were headed into a bye week to lick our wounds. In that two week stretch, I took more time to learn and think about Special Teams than I had ever before.

This article gives coaches 5 concrete ways to immediately improve their Special Teams. It also gives fans insight into how seriously their favorite team takes Special Teams. Although I use NFL and Division I NCAA examples, the principles apply to all levels of football.

Know the Rules

This sounds simple enough, but Special Teams include some of the most complicated and intricate rules in the game of football. Special Teams rules also change drastically across levels of football, with different rules for high schools, colleges, and professionals. High school rules can change from state to state. Consider the following Special Teams scenarios:

• A punt returner signals for a fair catch but then thinks the ball may go in the end zone. May he legally hit a player trying to down the ball while the ball is in the air? How about after the ball hits the ground? NFL Answer at Rule 10, Section 2, Item 5.
• Team A kicks the ball off and the football gets close to going out of bounds. A player on Team B places one foot out of bounds then touches the ball at the 5 yard line. Where should the official spot the ball? NFL Answer.
• Can a player’s feet touch the goal line while downing a punt? Can the ball cross the goal line in the air before being downed? NFL & NCAA Answers.

Did you know the rules in each instance? More importantly, does your team know the rules? The rules can affect the clock, field position, penalties, and directly change the scoreboard. For example, in the NFL a team making a fair catch has an option for their next play–snap it regularly, or try a “fair catch kick” with the chance for 3 points, off a tee, without a defensive rush. This normally is a meaningless choice, but can be critical in end of half or end of game situations. In one of 2019’s Tampa Bay vs. Carolina games, the Bucs punted from inside their own 20 yard line to the Panthers, who fair caught the ball at the 50 with :01 left:

Another situation is where one team needs to run the clock out, but may not want to punt the ball back to the other team for a number of reasons. If you are leading by more than 2 in the NFL, you can have every player hold for as long as they can, and then have the ball carrier run out of the back of the end zone. Whether there are 0 or 100 flags on the field, there is no time reset, and the game is over:

There are countless rule and clock scenarios between kickoff, kickoff return, onside kick and hands team, punt, punt return, field goal, field goal block, and both extra point units. The more of them you know, the better position your team will be in to win.

Eliminate Easily Correctable Mistakes

Field position is precious. No coach would volunteer to lose 10+ yards on an offensive play. Yet every week during football season, teams do just that the play before their offense takes the field. Punt Returners at all levels of football fail to field the ball and allow the opponent to down the ball 10+ yards later:

At the high school (and even lower college) levels, sometimes it’s just best to use two returners. Coaches should emphasize and prioritize fielding the ball nearly 100% of the time. And if a returner is instructed not to field the ball inside a certain yard line, they should have a plan. They should either 1) run to a different spot and fake like they are making the catch to draw away attention or 2) be ready to hit and prevent a player from downing the ball.

Dig into the Details

Offensive coaches know the proper timing for their pass game, whether it’s catch and throw, 1-step, 3-step, or 5-step. Defensive coaches know the intricacies of the blitzes, stunts, and coverages they call. Special Teams requires the same level of detail. Below are examples of Special Teams details a coach should know about BOTH their team and their opponent during the practice week and on game day:

• How long does it take for the long snapper to get the ball to the Punter?
• Where is the Punter’s launch point?
• How long does it take for the Punter to catch, step, and punt the ball?
• What is the Punter’s average hang time?
• Are there any left footed kickers? It matters.
• How long does it take for the short snapper to get the ball to the holder?
• How far do a Kicker’s kickoffs go? With what hang time?
• How long does it take for the edge rusher to get to the Punter/Kicker’s launch point? Is either team susceptible to blocked kicks this week based on the above times?
• What do the most common formations for the Kickoff, Punt, Field Goal, Extra Point, and Return teams look like? You could be giving away an obvious fake or missing a clear sign of a fake/trick play from an opponent.
• What is your Kicker and Punter’s range in each direction?
• Does weather impact any of the questions listed above?

This is also a great opportunity to get younger coaches, grad assistants, interns, and volunteers involved. If you are tight on time, delegate these tasks, but make sure they are being accounted for. And if you haven’t thought of them before, don’t worry. These details are missed at even at the highest level of football. Below, even after multiple kicks into the wind come up extremely short, the Cowboys coaching staff doesn’t adjust their returner:

Be Aggressive, Creative, and Deceptive

Aggression is consistently rewarded on offense and defense. But coaches don’t show the same aggression on Special Teams even when presented with the opportunity. These opportunities are more often available in high school football, where younger and more inexperienced players are the primary Special Team players. For example, when you watch an opponent’s kick return tape, note their front line: Is their depth well beyond 10 yards? Do they bail out hard and fast as the Kicker runs up to the ball? Are they players that rarely handle the ball? If so, it could be a great opportunity to have something like the following onside kick in the game plan:

Another opportunity to be aggressive are kickoffs after a 15-yard penalty against your opponent. Don’t just boom it out of the back of the end zone. This is a great chance to either kick it high inside the 5 yard line and pin them inside the 15, or to try a surprise onside kick.

My personal aggressive philosophy on Special Teams is constantly going after kicks–trying to block as many punts, extra points, and field goals as you can. Essentially, Beamer Ball. I’m obviously far from the only person who loves this strategy, and there are countless resources to help your team improve in this facet of the game.

Like play action and window dressing on offense, or a well disguised zone blitz on defense, there is plenty of room for deception and creativity on Special Teams. First, the low hanging fruit. When punting on 4th and short from inside your own 10, consider a shift and/or aggressive hard count to draw your opponent offsides. The downside of a false start is outweighed by a potential tremendous reward. Do the same when punting on 4th and medium from around the 50 yard line.

In the latter example, another strategy is to keep your offense on the field for long as possible before quickly mass substituting the Punt team. This tests your opponent’s discipline and whether everybody on the other team is paying attention. And something just like it may win you the biggest game of the season:

Think about your players’ skillsets. Can your Quarterback pooch punt? If so, you can always line up to go for it, try and draw the defense offsides and if you don’t like the look, punt it. Your wideouts also get a clean release to down the ball, all while saving a timeout:

Are your punt gunners having trouble getting off jammers? Consider moving around your gunners and personal protectors to get a clean release and full head of steam:

The Patriots tried out a pretty funky punt formation vs. the Redskins, with Terrence Brooks lining up 10 yards behind the line. They essentially ditched the personal protector to add a third gunner. pic.twitter.com/vZ76eOIoLk

— Zack Cox (@zm_cox) October 8, 2019

If your Punter can throw, have a fake punt in the playbook. But don’t expect a pass interference call. This can counter heavy rush looks. And if you’re a little hesitant to actually call it, show a basic version of it in the pre-season. This will make opponents prepare for it and make them less likely to go for all out blocks.

Finally, if your punt team has trouble blocking or direction punting, consider punting from a different formation. There are numerous ways to do so.

Prioritize Special Teams Culture

Like anything else in life, one must spend time on an activity to improve or be great at it. Special Teams is no different. In addition to the rules and X’s and O’s of Special Teams, you must practice drills and techniques that will put your team in the best possible position to win. Although technique details are beyond the scope of this article, there are countless resources for Special Teams specific drills that can help your team win.

Ask yourself: when you watch film in the off season, does your staff take time to discuss Special Teams ideas, X’s & O’s, and philosophy? Do your players know what good and bad Special Teams looks like? Below are some video compilations to start that process:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lAn-CpXmUA (Downed Punts Compilation)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThQ4x7rDBWM (2019 NFL Special Teams Plays)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq1z1P9AK78 (Fake Punts Compilation)

Players on your team can easily name offensive and defensive players across the NFL. But do they know who Matthew Slater, Justin Tucker, and Brett Kern are? They should.

Special Teams must become a priority and a part of the team culture. When your team practices Special Teams, is it at the end of practice for five minutes with the sophomores on the field and the starters off to the side goofing off? Don’t worry, we’ve all played on and coached plenty of teams like this. Now is the time to change.

Does your team incentivize being a Special Teams ace? Consider naming a Special Teams ace each week and allowing that player to walk out with the other captains. Better yet when a captain IS the ace of the week. Also consider whether the team leaders and assistant coaches are engaged when you watch Special Teams film with your team. Who leads the film session? Being great at Special Teams starts with the coaching staff’s attitude towards it.

And for those still wondering about how that season ended following the bye week? After the disastrous 0-3 start described in the introductory paragraph; our special teams didn’t give up another kickoff return over 30 yards, blocked 4 punts, fielded every punt the remainder of the season, and recovered two surprise onside kicks. We won 4 of our next 7 and finished 4-6.

The post 5 ways to immediately improve your Special Teams appeared first on Syed Schemes.