Packers may have turned their decade-long special teams nightmare into a strength

For over 10 years of Green Bay Packers football, the special teams unit has been a cause for concern amongst fans. With one emphatic play on Friday night, that may no longer be the case.

The Packers' 42-38 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Friday featured a litany of big moments. Chief among them, though, was an 81-yard punt return touchdown by wide receiver Will Sheppard.

As big as the moment was for Sheppard and the team, it felt like a sign that the Packers' special teams unit might finally be ready to turn the corner and no longer be a major question mark holding the team back.

Packers' special teams unit is finally showing the growth fans have waited years for

We've talked recently about how the special teams, long an issue for the Packers, could finally be on the rise. Thanks to new special teams coordinator Cam Achord and his infectious energy, the team's worst unit has looked anything but over the past few weeks.

The Packers earned the league's No. 1 PFF special teams grade across the preseason.

In the second game against the Denver Broncos, running back Pierre Strong Jr. had a 68-yard kick return. Skyy Moore returned another for 30 yards.

We said last week that it would be nice to see the special teams unit stack these wins, and against the Cardinals, they put it all together. On a punt deep into Packers territory, Sheppard ran through a window of Cardinals players to score. Behind him, the punt return team executed some perfect blocks, including one by Kamal Hadden, which got the attention of Achord, who quickly ran onto the field to let him know how big it was.

It was the perfect exclamation mark to what was a stellar offseason for the Packers' special teams. Between Trey Smack's perfect preseason, the fundamentals the kickoff and punt teams have been playing with, and Achord getting his players to buy in and perform on the field when it matters, the Packers might finally be ready to escape the basement of awful special teams play.

Of course, preseason success is one thing, but now it's time to do it when it matters. The Packers' special teams unit has undone them in real games far too often. If Achord and his group want to prove they're for real, they have to do it in the regular season. Judging by the first few weeks, though, they're more than ready for the challenge.

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