Special teams have played a major factor for the Seattle Seahawks early this season.

Most notably, there was George Holani’s fourth-quarter kickoff recovery in the end zone that helped propel the Seahawks to a road victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers this past Sunday. There also was Julian Love’s blocked field goal in Week 1 against the San Francisco 49ers, which at the time preserved a three-point lead late in the third quarter.

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But Seattle’s early special teams success goes beyond those two pivotal plays.

Through two weeks, the Seahawks’ kick coverage unit ranks second in the NFL with 19.7 yards allowed per return. Their kick return unit ranks seventh with 27.4 yards per return. Their punt return unit is tied for ninth with 14.0 yards per return. And standout punter Michael Dickson has been his usual steady self, downing four of his nine punts inside the 15-yard line.

It’s a massive contrast from last season, when special teams were a major problem for Seattle. The Seahawks muffed two punts and lost three fumbles on kick returns last year, in addition to finishing 17th in average kick return yardage allowed, 16th in average kick return yardage and 29th in average punt return yardage.

Earlier this week on Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk, former NFL quarterback Brock Huard highlighted the Seahawks’ significantly improved special teams play.

“If you can do this over the course of the season, you set yourself up for so much more success,” Huard said. “It’s like a 1-0 or 2-0 count in baseball. These are called hidden yards. … Like, you’re talking 5 to 10 yards over the course of the game of different field position in your favor and tilting that field. The special teams and (second-year coordinator) Jay Harbaugh are taking a great step here early this season.”

Listen to the full Blue 88 segment at this link or in the audio player at the bottom of this story. Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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