Packers will "overwhelm foes" on special teams

[Pokerbrat2000]

Personally, I think if the Packers were 4-12 last year and punted twice as much, Masthay's job wouldn't be so secure.

 

[Vrill]

Lets be honest, punters on our team barely see the field with our offense. How many times per game did Masthay even punt last year? 2-3 times on average? I remember a couple of games where he didn't even punt at all.....

In other words, he didn't see much game action and was never really in any kind of punting rhythm. Which is a good problem to have, LOL

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Masthay had 49 punts last year, Crosby attempted 33 field goals, should we apply that logic to Mason too (barely see the field)? People sure didn't when he was having a terrible year.

Is an accurate FG kicker more important then a quality punter? Maybe, but I don't care how many plays a player is in there for, you still hope for a better then less then average performance from everyone on your team.

 

[Mondio]

Take out returns and just look at Gross yardage and Masthay is 21st in 2013 and 26th in 2014 in that, far from stellar.

Return yards are a reflection on the jobs of both the punter and the special teams.

Never said he was stellar, and everyone can see that last year was poor. Before last year he's been fine. I watched the games too, nobody was calling for his job in 2013 or 2012. I dont care what the stats say today. If you want them to mean something, I want drive summaries, weather condition reports for each game, field position, and what type of kick was called. Directional, hang time, etc. Then give me the stats. Last year was poor, I dont need stats to tell me that either.

 

[Poppa San]

Extra point(s) team?

Forgot about that one and the field goal unit though the latter is making the best of a bad situation.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Lets be honest, punters on our team barely see the field with our offense. How many times per game did Masthay even punt last year? 2-3 times on average? I remember a couple of games where he didn't even punt at all.....

In other words, he didn't see much game action and was never really in any kind of punting rhythm. Which is a good problem to have, LOL

Even if the Packers don't punt a whole lot I expect more out of Masthay on these plays. The Packers ranked in the bottom half of the league in every single stat somehow relevant for punting last season.

While you may consider special teams not that important I'm surprised by a statement like that coming from a Packers fan after what happened last season, especially during the NFCCG.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Even if the Packers don't punt a whole lot I expect more out of Masthay on these plays. The Packers ranked in the bottom half of the league in every single stat somehow relevant for punting last season.

While you may consider special teams not that important I'm surprised by a statement like that coming from a Packers fan after what happened last season, especially during the NFCCG.

Yeah, but there's no punting in fantasy football.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Never said he was stellar, and everyone can see that last year was poor. Before last year he's been fine. I watched the games too, nobody was calling for his job in 2013 or 2012. I dont care what the stats say today. If you want them to mean something, I want drive summaries, weather condition reports for each game, field position, and what type of kick was called. Directional, hang time, etc. Then give me the stats. Last year was poor, I dont need stats to tell me that either.

Football Outsider features a ranking that represents the estimated effect of weather, altitude, and domes on each team's special teams performance.

According to them the Packers had the biggest disadvantage of any team in the league last year. All other teams ranked in the bottom of the list had a way punting unit than the Packers though.

While I agree with you that Masthay was mostly solid during his first three years in the NFL this is a what have you done for me lately, so he better steps up his game again.

 

[HardRightEdge]

While I agree with you that Masthay was mostly solid during his first three years in the NFL this is a what have you done for me lately, so he better steps up his game again.

"What have you done for me lately" is justifiably a legitimate concept. With all things being equal, a fall off in performance is a legitimate reason for concern.

But you have to look at the reasons why all things might not have been equal. Did the guy go in the tank after getting a nice contract? Did he play injured, with said injury now resolved? Is age catching up? Was he saddled with sub-par players next to him that was not the case in the past?

In other words, getting into the habit of dumping guys with one-off bad years without close examination of the reasons why is a sure way of setting up a personnel turnstile that leads directly to mediocrity or even the basement.

Surely, the affects of bad kick blocking needs to be examined, as both of us have noted.

Now, bringing in a camp punter is not a bad idea. "Competition" is one way of looking at it. "Insurance" is another. Either way, if the blocking improves and Masthay continues along the same path in preseason, a change would be in order. And it might not be Mandell...there always seems to be a couple of serviceable punters with NFL experience floating around. Punter is the position most amenable to "plug and play".

One thing I'd question about Mandell...has he ever kicked in cold weather? Playing in the Southeast Conference, what's the coldest place he might have kicked? A November or December game in Tennessee, maybe? He also hails from Alabama; he played HS football there. I'm wondering if he's ever seen snow...literally.

 

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

In other words, getting into the habit of dumping guys with one-off bad years without close examination of the reasons why is a sure way of setting up a personnel turnstile that leads directly to mediocrity or even the basement.

Ross comes to mind for some reason.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

One thing I'd question about Mandell...has he ever kicked in cold weather? Playing in the Southeast Conference, what's the coldest place he might have kicked? A November or December game in Tennessee, maybe? He also hails from Alabama; he played HS football there. I'm wondering if he's ever seen snow...literally.

I guess Mandell has never played in snowy conditions. I heard though the Packers had him practice in a cold storage warehouse for the last few weeks.

 

[HardRightEdge]

Ross comes to mind for some reason.

I think the reason is that soon after he departed the Packers he ran back both a KO and a punt for TDs in the same game, if memory serves. I also seem to recall he did it in the rain on a sloppy field. I remember calling him a "mudder", drawing the term from thoroughbred racing, where some horses just run better on a sloppy track.

Since that game, his punt return average has been pedestrian and certainly not a loss in that regard. His KO average last year was decent at 25.4 with a long return of 41 yards, which suggests consistent productivity in lieu of game breaking returns. As a receiver, Detroit does not throw him the ball much...35 targets last season.

The main knock on Ross as a returner was ball security. He had 5 fumbles for Detroit last season...that's a very high number for a guy who touched the ball on 32 punt returns, 23 KO returns, 24 receptions, 2 runs, and however many fair catches he might have had.

I think we need a better example.

 

[HardRightEdge]

I guess Mandell has never played in snowy conditions. I heard though the Packers had him practice in a cold storage warehouse for the last few weeks.

They could put a ball in a fridge turned way down, maybe 25 degrees, check the air pressure on that one, and then deflate the others to match it, and see how he does.

 

[yooperpackfan]

They could put a ball in a fridge turned way down, maybe 25 degrees, check the air pressure on that one, and then deflate the others to match it, and see how he does.

Or send him to the U.P. on the 30th and 31st of May.
It's supposed to get down to 30 degrees here tonight.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I think the reason is that soon after he departed the Packers he ran back both a KO and a punt for TDs in the same game, if memory serves. I also seem to recall he did it in the rain on a sloppy field. I remember calling him a "mudder", drawing the term from thoroughbred racing, where some horses just run better on a sloppy track.

He scored both of his return TDs on a field covered with snow against Philadelphia in 2013. He hasn't done anything spectacular in the return game on decent field conditions.

The main knock on Ross as a returner was ball security. He had 5 fumbles for Detroit last season...that's a very high number for a guy who touched the ball on 32 punt returns, 23 KO returns, 24 receptions, 2 runs, and however many fair catches he might have had.

Another thing to consider is that he had a total of 37 fair catches (53.6%) last season, so he picks his spots as when to return a punt but still hasn't been succesful. On the other hand Micah Hyde had only three fair catches while returning 14 punts with way better results.

 

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

I think the reason is that soon after he departed the Packers he ran back both a KO and a punt for TDs in the same game, if memory serves. I also seem to recall he did it in the rain on a sloppy field. I remember calling him a "mudder", drawing the term from thoroughbred racing, where some horses just run better on a sloppy track.

Since that game, his punt return average has been pedestrian and certainly not a loss in that regard. His KO average last year was decent at 25.4 with a long return of 41 yards, which suggests consistent productivity in lieu of game breaking returns. As a receiver, Detroit does not throw him the ball much...35 targets last season.

The main knock on Ross as a returner was ball security. He had 5 fumbles for Detroit last season...that's a very high number for a guy who touched the ball on 32 punt returns, 23 KO returns, 24 receptions, 2 runs, and however many fair catches he might have had.

I think we need a better example.

Thank you (genuinely) for pointing that out. I just thought we were a bit quick kicking him to the kerb myself .

 

[HardRightEdge]

Thank you (genuinely) for pointing that out. I just thought we were a bit quick kicking him to the kerb myself .

The Captain was correct...Ross' big game was in a few inches of snow.

There's a youtube video highlighting his 2013 season.

It reminded me that he had a 35 yard punt return and a 5 yard slant TD against the Packers in the Packers 40-10 loss with Rodgers out. That might have felt like salt in the wound at the time. But Ross' body of work with Detroit is no reason for regret.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Bottom line on Ross.....he stunk as a Packer, contributed nothing as a Packer and is no longer a Packer.....no regrets.

 

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

Bottom line on Ross.....he stunk as a Packer, contributed nothing as a Packer and is no longer a Packer.....no regrets.

And I`m not disagreeing with anybody. I just thought we kicked him into touch a little quickly for me. Just an opinion

 

[OldSchool101]

Hmm. "overwhelming foes" is a optimistic prediction from a guy with "underwhelming toes". Personally I'll be content when we see the Froufrou turn to Fruition,
It's been a rough start for the new coach. Apparently, the guys have been asking him for dating advice, confusing his name with the founder of Zoosk.

 

[I asked LT to delete my acct]

Hmm. "overwhelming foes" is a optimistic prediction from a guy with "underwhelming toes". Personally I'll be content when we see the Froufrou turn to Fruition,
It's been a rough start for the new coach. Apparently, the guys have been asking him for dating advice, confusing his name with the founder of Zoosk.

I worry about you.......lol

 

[brandon2348]

I don't know about "overwhelming" but if they can just recover "onside kicks" and get a little more on kickoff returns (Montgomery), then a Super Bowl should be in order.

 

[Deleted member 6794]

I don't know about "overwhelming" but if they can just recover "onside kicks" and get a little more on kickoff returns (Montgomery), then a Super Bowl should be in order.

I would like to add blocking on kicking attempts and denying other teams to score a TD on fake FG attempts to the list.

 

[brandon2348]

I would like to add blocking on kicking attempts and denying other teams to score a TD on fake FG attempts to the list.

Agreed.

 

[Joe Nor Cal Packer]

It's not crazy to say

Even if the Packers don't punt a whole lot I expect more out of Masthay on these plays. The Packers ranked in the bottom half of the league in every single stat somehow relevant for punting last season.

While you may consider special teams not that important I'm surprised by a statement like that coming from a Packers fan after what happened last season, especially during the NFCCG.

STs have been responsible for a lot of SB wins. See Packers 1997. We need to improve punting. Period.