The Green Bay Packers 2014 season was one for the ages. The team was just a minutes away from heading to the Super Bowl, before everything came apart. Some of us would like to forget the "muffed" catch during the on side kick that Seattle had certainly telegraphed to the Pack. Brandon Bostick is still having nightmares about that one. What can be done about the Packers special teams? Mike McCarthy is taking this task on at a level that nears "personal handling" status. First lets take a look at how the team did last season.
Green Bay was at the bottom of the rankings in almost every special teams category. First, with seven kicks blocked, the "all season - all types of kicks" debacle forced specific players to stay on the field for special teams plays, when resting them would have been the better bet. But that wasn't the worst of it. Green Bay had the third worst net punting average, so even if the kick was away, the team didn't hold opponents to minimal yards. The Packers were second worst in kickoff yards allowed, and near the bottom for field goals made.
McCarthy made the first move by firing special teams coach Shawn Slocum. He moved Ron Zook into that position, and the team has already started working on the fundamentals. Tim Masthay now has a competitor for the starting position at punter. Green Bay brought in Cody Mandell as an option at that position.
Who was the Packers return man in 2014? That guy they let go the day after the loss to Seattle. Well, perhaps it wasn't the day after, but DuJuan Harris was let go, and Ty Montgomery will be taking the lead at that position in 2015. Don't be surprised if Green Bay puts a few other streaky runners back there, just to see what works. What's the bright spot from last year? Mason Crosby. Crosby did a bang up job kicking, hitting 81.8% of his kicks.
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