GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ special teams, one of the worst units in the NFL, have shown signs of growth as the race for the playoffs has begun.
In our latest Packers On SI NFL Special Teams Rankings, the Packers are 26th. They were 24th after their Week 5 bye. However, they are coming off strong performances the past couple weeks against the Vikings and Lions, so could be ascending at the right time.
Before diving into the numbers in the chart below, here’s the methodology. Special teams, at their root, are about field position. So, that’s the focus. In the first column, it’s net punting average. It doesn’t matter how far Packers punter Daniel Whelan kicks the ball if the returner runs it back 20 yards every time. The second column is opponent net punting average or, in this case, the impact of the return unit against the opposing punter.
The third column is kickoff coverage. This is average starting field position after a kickoff and not kickoff-return yardage allowed. The fourth column is kickoff return, or the average starting field position supplied by the return unit. The final column is field-goal percentage.
The rankings are added together for a point total. The lower the score, the better.
NFL Special Teams Rankings
NFL Special Teams Rankings through Week 13 | Bill Huber/Packers On SI
The Good on Special Teams
If you’re from the school of thought that a good day on special teams is a performance that doesn’t lose the game, the Packers are doing a good job at two of the things that really matter.
Behind Whelan, the Packers are ninth in net punting. Whelan is second in the league with a gross average of 51.4 yards per punt. The franchise record is Corey Bojorquez’s 46.5-yard average in 2021. So, Whelan isn’t on pace to break the record. He’s on pace to destroy it.
There’s some trade-off in kicking the ball a mile as it makes coverage a challenge. The Packers are 20th in punt coverage with an 11.7-yard average per return. However, Whelan’s done his part, ranking fourth in hangtime (4.54 seconds), according to Pro Football Focus.
Where he needs to improve to become a truly elite punter is his ratio of inside-the-20 punts vs touchbacks. He’s got 12 inside-the-20s and six touchbacks. Detroit’s Jack Fox, for a contrasting example, has 23 inside-the-20s and zero touchbacks.
The second is Green Bay’s kickoff coverage. Opponents are starting at the 29.9-yard line, which ranks 13th but is only 0.3 yards from being eighth. Brandon McManus is third in hangtime but has the fourth-highest touchback percentage. A touchback is a bad play given the new kickoff rules. The Lions started at their 35 three times in the first half after touchbacks.
The Bad on Special Teams
While the coverage teams have limited field position, the return units haven’t done much to help the offense. Green Bay is 26th in opponent net punting and 24th in starting field position after a kickoff return.
On the bright side, Romeo Doubs has been a sure-handed punt returner. While he’s averaging only 6.2 yards per return with just three of 10-plus yards out of 14 opportunities, he’s caught the ball and generally made the right decisions near the goal line and on bouncing balls. Those were things Matthew Golden struggled with early in the season before he was replaced.
On kickoff returns, Savion Williams is averaging 25.6 yards per return, which is tied for 24th.
The Packers are 28th in field-goal percentage. After making all his kicks in Week 1, McManus missed one kick each of his next six games. Some of that was due to early-season protection issues and some of that was his injury and slump. Of 29 kickers with at least 15 field-goal attempts, he is 27th at 71.4 percent.
However, in a sign that he might be back in the top form that made him such a standout last year, he made all 10 kicks the last two games. He hasn’t made a 50-yarder since Week 4 at Dallas.
The Packers are tied for 11th with 15 penalties on special teams. They’ve drawn 12, so are minus-3.
Finishing Schedule
The Packers will host the Chicago Bears on Sunday. The Bears, who scored a trick-play touchdown on a punt return against Green Bay in Week 18 of last season, are 19th. The Packers will then play at the Broncos, who are 24th, before the rematch against the Bears.
The regular season will conclude with a home game against the Ravens, who always have a strong kicking game and are third in our rankings, and a game at the Vikings, who are 24th.
Like with every team, special teams are a work in progress due to injuries, which mean a revolving door of personnel. Linebacker Nick Niemann leads the team with 11 tackles but played in only seven games before going on injured reserve.
Chris Brooks and Zayne Anderson have 10 tackles. Other than Niemann’s six, Ty’Ron Hopper leads with five solo tackles.
“I’d like to think so,” Bisaccia said when asked if his unit was trending the right way. “It’s ever-changing for us week in and week out, but you’d like to think everywhere on your team that, as the season goes on, you’re starting to create some chemistry with the guys that are playing, and you’d like to think you’re going to keep improving.
“We still think we have a lot of football left ahead of us. I’ve said it before, on special teams, you look at the end of it and you think you have a hell of a day and there’s always one play that you walk out of there and you go, ‘I can’t believe that happened.’ We have to look at, when you win a game, you have to be more critical on the things you got away with so you don’t let the win mask your problems.”
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