Green Bay Packers: Week 9 special teams recap
By Kenn Korb
The Return Units
Punts:
- Fair Catch (GB 21)
- 8 yard return (GB 26)
- Out of Bounds (GB 20); *Offsetting Penalties* Re-kick; Touchback *IND Penalty* (GB 25)
- Fair Catch (GB 20)
Kickoffs:
- 26 yard return (GB 31)
- 17 yard return (GB 18)
- Touchback
- Touchback
- 21 yard return (GB 25)
- Touchback
The return units were a big part of the Atlanta game; Trevor Davis took one punt for 55 yards, while the threat of a return forced the Falcons to hand over a 25-yard starting spot to Green Bay each time the offense took the field.
This game was more of a mixed bag at best.
The punt unit didn’t have anything close to the previous huge return from Davis this time around, but Green Bay didn’t ever end up trapped deep. They also didn’t try to do too much and risk becoming yet another problem in a game full of them for the Packers.
The kick return game tried to do something more often than we’ve seen most weeks, but rarely did it make much difference. The returns were necessary though; each of the three returned kick attempts were ones where the ball was aimed to drop in the field of play.
The first one gave Green Bay some extra starting yardage on their first drive; it eventually became their first points in the contest. The second sort of undid that positivity abit — failing to get to the Packers’ 20 — but again, they had to attempt some kind of runup. The third one did that better — getting back to the Packers’ 25; essentially a touchback that never reached the endzone — but wasn’t a dynamic showing.
Overall, this unit didn’t shine, but it did not falter much (a penalty for hitting the punter could have hurt, but it was offset by an Indianapolis penalty). They reached the slim bar of competence needed to not put their offense in a tough situation on a tough day.
I wouldn’t celebrate that, but with the mistakes elsewhere it’s at least one less area in need of fixing going into an upcoming three game road trip.