The Green Bay Packers had a tale of two fourth quarters these past few weeks against NFC South opponents.
Green Bay blew a comfortable lead against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2 thanks to a meltdown in all three phases. In Week 3’s home opener, Jordan Love and Co. went into power-overwhelming mode and overcame a 17-0 deficit in the fourth quarter.
We’re starting to get an idea of this young team’s identity after three games, but the special teams unit is still in flux. Rich Bisaccia’s unit has shined at times and opposite-of-shined at others. In some areas, they’ve exceeded expectations while being sloppy in others. Where do special teams stand as we head into Week 4?
Kicking is one area where Green Bay’s special teams has been particularly good — and where it easily could have struggled. Rookie kicker Anders Carlson has been perfect thus far after a shaky off-season.
Carlson has made all three of his field goal attempts (one against each opponent), including a 52-yarder against the Chicago Bears. Carlson also hasn’t missed an extra point, with the most impressive one being the de facto game-winner after Green Bay’s final touchdown against the New Orleans Saints. While we expect extra points to be automatic, the rookie kicker didn’t let the weight of the moment overcome him in the game’s final moments.
Carlson’s consistency is particularly notable since he hasn’t always been put in great situations. One his first career field goal against Chicago, Carlson faced a high snap and some clock oddity. In Atlanta, a delay of game penalty and Matt LaFleur’s unwillingness to let his big-legged kicker make the longer attempt robbed Carlson of the chance to attempt another long field goal.
The Packers also gambled on a young punter, to mostly good but mixed overall results. Daniel Whelan‘s big leg has been as advertised — the Irish punter packs a lot of power. But Whelan hasn’t shown a consistent ability to pin opponents behind the 10-yard line, and he’s had more touchbacks than you’d like. Still, Whelan was PFF’s fifth-highest-ranked punter after Week 2.
That number will certainly drop after his poor punt led to Saints returner Rashid Shaheed‘s 76-yard return. Thanks to the poor hit and lack of hang time leaving the gunners out of position, Shaheed was virtually untouched. That TD further dug a hole for Green Bay’s offense to climb out of.
The Saints boasted PFF’s highest-ranked special teams unit, which Rich Bisaccia lauded earlier in the week.
“They’re extremely well coached,” he said. “They’re a fast, physical unit. They are a rush team, they blocked a couple last year and now they started off the season with a block. They got real close twice against Carolina so protection will be paramount for us in the game.”
The Saints showed how tough they were, and Green Bay’s unit struggled against them for most of the game. Bisaccia’s group had their worst game of the year against the Saints. Ironically, though, New Orleans’ missed kick sealed the victory for the Packers.
Whalen’s poor punt and subsequent return TD weren’t the only source of woe for the Packers.
Punt coverage was a problem all day, not just on the return TD. It was a poor day overall for the gunners. Corey Ballentine and Jonathan Owens didn’t have the best day at the office. Owens had another holding penalty that cost the Packers valuable field position. Owens also had a face mask penalty against the Falcons. Rasul Douglas and Kingsley Enagbare committed holding penalties against the Saints.
Part of the problem is protection on punt attempts. Thanks to losing Tyler Davis for the year, Bisaccia lost his unit’s best blocker and hasn’t found an ideal replacement. Lukas Van Ness has brought some blocking to the group. However, he had less action there against the Saints because of an elbow injury. In relief, Luke Musgrave saw more time, but he isn’t quite as skilled as a blocker yet.
In terms of their own returners, Nixon has shown his characteristic devil-may-care attitude by running kick returns back from the end zone at every chance. But he hasn’t been able to break free thanks to poor blocking not giving him great running lanes. He may need to fight against his nature and accept more fair catches.
Tackling has been better, and PFF didn’t credit the Packers’ special teams group with any missed tackles. Darnell Savage, who has been much improved this season, had a particularly impactful tackle on teams toward the end of the game.
Compared to previous years, these are fixable problems, and Green Bay still has an above-average group by DVOA. These aren’t the disasters of previous years. But with such a prolific coordinator and the wealth of resources invested in the group, it’s hard not to want more. At the very least, Green Bay needs to clean up the penalties and consider trying some new bodies at gunner and in punt protection. Having a novice kicker and punter will mean some ups and downs, but the other phases also need some polish.
With a young, beat-up offense still finding its footing and an ever-inconsistent defense, we-fence simply needs to clean itself up a bit to help carry the team.
