Special teams

I was beginning to think the Texans had shown up to play special teams for us.

People are criticizing coaching, QB play etc. But there is no excuse to leave 6 points hanging on the goal post. That was the game right there no OT, done and on the way home.

 

No doubt about it the Kicking Game was the weak link Thurs Night. I sure hope we see improvement against Houston...

 

Our Special Teams looked, well, Special. Our return game was not impressive at all, our field position sucked each and every drive. Finnegan had no business out there taking punts. Bironas was inexcusably off and deserves the most blame as far as the players go. And Craig is a veteran and he just can't shank a punt like that at that point in a game.

 

That was my only real worry after watching the preseason games. For a team that is built to be patient and win the field position battle, we have to have a better ST unit.

The blocked kick was bad - yes the penetration up the middle made it possible but Bironas has been hitting them way too low.

Not sure about Hentrich - he just can't do that.

Finnegan is one of my favorite players, but OMG did he make some horrible decisions on those punts. Letting the ball hit the ground just inside the 20? Not even our rookies do that.

Apparently 5 preseason games just isn't enough.

 

ST was definitely a factor in the loss. Hentrich just sucks, I'm sorry. And can someone please teach Craig Stevens to keep contain on kick coverage? He lost contain twice and the returner just went up the sidelines twice for huge gains.

 

and yet we have 2 special teams captains. why have captains for the worst part of your team? Bulluck should be a captain no question. Where was our other suprise captain anyway? Did he even have a tackle? and yes i agree stevens is awful on special teams thus far.

 

I think Bironas will sharpen things up and regain his consistency. It just isn't like him to miss kicks. The block wasn't totally his fault but missing that 37-yarder was just plain weak.

Hentrich ate it on that last punt but I don't expect that happen again. He's usually pretty reliable. There is no doubt that he guys won't hear the end of it if they don't get their act together.

I expect them to get back on track.

 

I think Bironas and Hentrich will be fine... the blocked kick worries me a little since it was the 2nd time we've seen him hit it too low on a short kick recently. But he's a pro and will fix it.

The return game needs help. Hopefully Mouton will settle things down on punts and I think Ringer will be pretty good. But we're not there yet. The kick coverage wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but there were some lost containment that we can't afford in games like that.