Masthay--few bad balls, but punting as told??

[longtimefan]

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/pack...ked-punts-the-boot-b99631982z1-361520941.html

Green Bay (8-4) has only given up one return of 20 yards or more this year, 23 to the Detroit Lions' Golden Tate in the Packers' 18-16 loss Nov. 15 in Green Bay.

Green Bay's opponents have averaged 4.9 yards on 31 returns. Only Philadelphia allows fewer yards at 4.4 per return. Every other NFL team allows 5 yards or more, and a 7.4 yard average is good enough for top 10.

"We've played some pretty good returners that you don't want to put the ball in their hands," said Zook. "We've asked him to do some things for the team and for the coverage and for everybody that maybe some punters wouldn't want to do.


He said he's misjudged the wind sometimes, and Packers have been in some windy games this year, against Detroit, in the second half at San Francisco and vs. St. Louis.

And in the Thanksgiving night Bears game at Lambeau Field, Masthay faced conditions as tough as he ever has: rain, 35 degrees and 25 mph gusts.

Punting to the sidelines gets dicey. He gave this example: he's been lined up left to punt to the sideline, and there's a steady wind blowing left. He should have lined up more to the middle.

"And as a result I hit a short punt out of bounds," said Masthay.

"That's my frustration at the moment. Quite frankly, I've hit the ball well all year, but I've had these handful of mistakes that put a bit of a damper on the year's performance up to this point. So to me it's frustrating."

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I'm still not sold on Masthay, too many bad punts. Also, have to credit the special teams in regards to the low yardage on returns.

 

[azrsx05]

Hard to return balls that are kicked into the stands or not even 30 yards. That's why the other teams have a low yard returns.

 

[Dan115]

his job is on shaking ground.

 

[yooperpackfan]

If the offense wasn't in such disarray Masthay wouldn't be an issue.

 

[C-Lee]

He is awful.

 

[Mondio]

I don't care if you're not allowing a lot of return yards. When your punts are going 30 yards, it doesn't much matter. A lot of punters are hitting good hangtimes and 50 yards give or take, on their punts

 

[longtimefan]

I think he is being told to punt a certain way...but has mis judged the wind...

That is why in one game he can have good punts then a real stinker..i have noticed the bad ones are normally out of bounds...not just short in middle of field..

As zook said we told him do things other punters wouldnt want to do

 

[gopkrs]

When I watch him; he looks like he is trying to finess his kicks. Like he doesn't really try and kick it hard. Probably scared of misjudging the ball. He is a liability at this point.

 

[JBlood]

Punting is the least of our problems.

 

[gopkrs]

Punting is the least of our problems.

Not sure what your point is. Every aspect of the game should be taken into consideration. Especially one that is easily fixed. Although maybe not at this point in the season.

 

[milani]

I'm still not sold on Masthay, too many bad punts. Also, have to credit the special teams in regards to the low yardage on returns.

Masthay's performance has deteriorated the last 2 seasons. Not sure what is up with him. Too many schanks and short punts when we need him to deliver. It could be that our offense has been inept unlike the last 5 and he has to punt more often. Nevertheless, he has left our D in some tough situations. Prior to Seattle making their comeback in the championship game he failed to pin the Seahawks deep in the 4th quarter when we needed it the most. That extra yardage could have made Seattle have to go farther down the field. Capers may have been able to adjust his defense for one or two plays and maybe Seattle makes a mistake or turns it over on downs.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

It could be that our offense has been inept unlike the last 5 and he has to punt more often.

Last year I was blaming his shanks and short punts on being rusty, not having to punt much since the offense was scoring more.

I appreciate that Zook is trying to back one of his players and take some of the heat and because of this I don't foresee a change in punters this year. But the Packers have given Masthay way more time then they did Crosby to work his issues out and he really hasn't. I don't see Masthay on the team next year.

 

[El Guapo]

Zook was brought in to fix a troubled special teams. If Pokerbrat2000 is correct and Zook is merely covering for Masthay's performance, then we should get some real competition in here next summer. However, it could also be that we still don't have good coverage teams and therefore Zook is trying to contain the damage with more directional punts than is usually necessary. Masthay has never had a big leg. His strength has been directional punting, sacrificing the gross yardage for a better net. Maybe we are pushing that angle too much because of coverage deficiencies. It's one possibility.

 

[JBlood]

Not sure what your point is. Every aspect of the game should be taken into consideration. Especially one that is easily fixed. Although maybe not at this point in the season.

Unless our offense finds itself, punting isn't going to win or lose a game.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

There are punters that can do both directional and distance quite well and on a consistent basis. IMO, Masthay isn't one of them. To hang on to a punter because "he is a trusted holder for place kicks" and "tries to do as we ask" aren't speaking to me.

Personally, I'm always a bit disappointed that the Packers don't use a late round pick to lock in an excellent punter at what I feel is a player that can gain or lose you many yards/game. San Fran was the only team that drafted a punter this year in round 5 and they got what appears to be a very solid punter in Brad Pinion. Of course someone is going to point out that in 2004 we drafted B.J. Sander in round #3 and that didn't work out so well.

 

[7thFloorRA]

He has been total garbage this year and most of last year. IDK why Zook is taking the fall for him. So what exactly are they asking him to do? Hey Timmy.....kick this one 30 yds and out of bounds so we can shorten the field for the D?? Just makes little sense.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

This could also be selective memory, but seems like Masthay's longest punts are the ones that either reach the end zone (losing us 19 or less yards and field position) or after traveling 30 yards and getting a really fortuitous roll of 15 or more yards.

 

[Mondio]

They may be asking him to do different things, and I"m asking why? Either he can't hit a decent punt consistently, or we don't have guys that can cover them. He doesn't seem great at pinning them deep, or helping to flip field position when we need it.

 

[Poppa San]

Seems the more we need the big -flip the field- punt we get the 30 yard drive into the sidelines. The big booming punts seem to come from almost midfield where 2 bounces get to the endzone.