Special Teams Endured Up-And-Down Year

[News Bot]

The one facet of the 2009 Green Bay Packers that may have been the hardest to get a handle on all season was the special teams.

Seemingly every area on special teams - coverage and return units, kicking and punting - had its ups and downs. Some of that was due to injury and lineup shuffling, some due to plain inconsistency.

In an extensive session with reporters earlier this week, special teams coach Shawn Slocum reviewed where things stand with his units and what it means for 2010.

Here's a rundown of some key topics:

COVERAGE UNITS
Heading into the final four games of the regular season, kickoff coverage was a major question mark. In a span of six games through midseason, Minnesota's Percy Harvin (77 yards), Tampa Bay's Clifton Smith (83 yards), San Francisco's Josh Morgan (76 yards) and Baltimore's Lardarius Webb (68 yards) all broke long returns against Green Bay.

But things definitely stabilized down the stretch. Over the l..

Source: Packers.com

 

[Green_Bay_Packers]

THE SPECIALISTS
Long snapper Brett Goode was practically flawless for the second straight year, but kicker Mason Crosby took a step back statistically and punter Jeremy Kapinos was also up and down.

Crosby's struggles were well-documented, as he missed a field goal of less than 45 yards in four straight games from Weeks 12-15. He also made just 2-of-6 on the season from 50-plus, hitting in the season opener and in Week 16 but missing all four long tries in between. He also missed from 54 in the playoffs.

That left his regular-season numbers at 27-of-36, a 75.0 percent conversion rate that was below the 79.5 and 79.4 he posted each of his first two seasons in the league. One goal for this year was to get above the 80 percent benchmark that all but six other kickers with at least 20 attempts hit in 2009.

Thats the snappers fault

 

[robdog]

I am still trying to figure out what they are going to do with Crosby next year. I have a feeling we will be seeing him next year, hopefully he can work on his game during the break and get on track for next season.