Special teams

[CRA]

Been the the steady concern all year

Can we field punts? With the added bonus now of RAIN?

Can we cover punt returns? With a legit PR man?

3 phases of football. I think our special teams/ ST coordinator decides this one....we play a solid special teams game we win. Field position is huge.

We have special teams errors....I think this is a game where a team can't can't overcome a unit not showing up. I think O and D will show up...not dominate but have solid efforts in a low score battle

[bigskypanthersguy]

It's vastly fitting that our special teams wear helmets, and it'd be amusing if it weren't so sad and terribly frustrating. 

[Jackofalltrades]

Ginn will finally earn some of that ridiculous contract AZ gave him...

[TheRumGone]

Biggest thing is getting somebody to actually fuging block the gunner this game. BB was getting destroyed. Don't need that added pressure on the rookie

[TheRumGone]

And I'd be happy with nortman punting out of bounds like he did with Hester all game. Sacrifice the yardage

[The Huddler]

just make the tackle. Tgat hester kick return would have been behind the 20 if he didnt bounce off the tackle

[Seltzer]

I simply hope we fair catch when receiving and limit the gains when covering.  Special teams is demonstratively the only area where we are worse than we were last year at this time.

 

And yeah, Bersin isn't going to scare any ST coach in the league, but the poor kid can't do anything with the blocking he's given.  I am legitimately worried about ST wrecking what could be a promising playoff run.

 

It is the obvious weakest link in the team right now, and every team we play in the playoffs is going to try to exploit it.  

 

People have knocked Rivera (rightfully so) for costing the team a couple of games with questionable coaching decisions especially in terms of clock management, but you have to weigh that against how he has coached up the young players in the secondary and offensive line to get us to the playoffs.

 

The only area of the team where they haven't gotten better over the 2nd half of the season is ST. Gano has missed FG's this year he didn't miss last year, we don't have a big threat like Ginn at PR, and the coverage units are horrible.  ST directly cost us the games against Minnesota & Atlanta (1st Game), and have not given us an advantage in any other game to counterbalance that.

 

I definitely agree with the OP that we need a solid ST outing to win this game.  

[ThPantherFan]

Been the the steady concern all year

Can we field punts? With the added bonus now of RAIN?

Can we cover punt returns? With a legit PR man?

3 phases of football. I think our special teams/ ST coordinator decides this one....we play a solid special teams game we win. Field position is huge.

We have special teams errors....I think this is a game where a team can't can't overcome a unit not showing up. I think O and D will show up...not dominate but have solid efforts in a low score battle

I was all hyped up for tomorrow's game and then YOU had to mention special teams.  Now I will not get any sleep.  I will not eat the rest of the day or tomorrow.  I'll now get sick and have to NOT drink beer.  Oh why did you mention special teams?  Seriously, that is still my concern.  Hopefully they will continue improving.  I don't look for any sprints to the end zone but as long as they hold on to the ball and get it past the 20, I'll be happy.

[ThPantherFan]

just make the tackle. Tgat hester kick return would have been behind the 20 if he didnt bounce off the tackle

 

Tackling is horrible on special teams.

[ThPantherFan]

And I'd be happy with nortman punting out of bounds like he did with Hester all game. Sacrifice the yardage

 

Just as long as you don't say, 'a punt is a good play'.

 

[ThPantherFan]

WHY did someone mention special teams.  I am shaking all over.  I need another beer.  Wait a minute, I'm getting sick...........

[PandaPancake]

We should probably score on every drive to eliminate punting.

Play me off Johnny