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Heading into the game at Chicago two weeks ago, special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum spoke of the need for his kickoff-coverage unit to play fundamentally sound but also fast against one of the top return tandems in the league.
That came on the heels of the Packers allowing a 68-yard kickoff return at a critical point in the game the previous week against Baltimore, the fourth time in 2009 that Green Bay allowed a 50-plus yard return. Slocum's concern was that because of those big returns, some of his coverage men were possibly playing more tentatively for fear of being the player that was responsible for a big gain by the opponent.
Green Bay responded against the Bears with one of its top performances of the season in kickoff coverage, and followed that up with another strong showing last Sunday against Pittsburgh.
Heading into the Chicago game, the Packers ranked No. 25 in the league in kickoff coverage with opponents averaging 24.5 yards per return. Bu..
Source: Packers.com