The Green Bay Packers might be the team most acquainted with special teams playing a massive role in heartbreaking postseason losses, at least in the last 15 years, but they’ve got company.

Two weeks after Brandon McManus‘ leg failed to help the Packers reach the Divisional Round, special teams played a big part in the Los Angeles Rams losing the conference championship. Rams returner Xavier Smith botched a punt return in the third quarter. The Seattle Seahawks recovered the ball at the LA’s 17-yard line and scored one play later.

HUGE turnover on special teams. Seahawks take over.

LARvsSEA on FOX/FOX One
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/Vfx5g6l8t0

— NFL (@NFL) January 26, 2026

In a game the Rams lost by four points, special teams costing the team seven points wasn’t a good look. Smith’s muffed return wasn’t LA’s only special teams issue, and this came after they made attempts to fix the unit.

What does this have to do with the Packers?

Rams head coach Sean McVay is a close friend of Matt LaFleur and part of the same coaching tree. Both of them have historically struggled to field competent special teams units. And wouldn’t you know it, Kyle Shanahan, from the same cavalcade, has a similar issue!

The Big Three of the Piss Boys — a nickname for the young coaches with the Houston Texans before gaining top positions in the league — all have an issue when it comes to building that diabolical third phase of the game.

For the Packers, it means their issues go far beyond Rich Bisaccia, who ESPN’s Rob Demovsky said looks “safe” to be back in Green Bay after four seasons of below-average special teams rankings. The braintrust of LaFleur, McVay, and Shanahan needs all hands on deck to find the solution to their often season-ending special teams woes.

Rob Demovsky just now with Jen Lada on ESPN Wisconsin
“It is possible Steno ends up in TEN & I would be stunned if there aren’t a couple of current GB staff members on the Dolphins staff.”
Is Rich B safe? “It sure looks like it” pic.twitter.com/72eQNkDdgk

— Packerfan Total Access- Clayton (@packers_access) January 26, 2026

Green Bay’s special teams detonated at the worst times to end the season. They had missed kicks, too many injuries piling up, and a failed onside kick recovery. Still, somehow, the Rams may have had it worse.

LA’s muffed punt return last weekend was just the icing on the cake.

The second time the Rams played Seattle in Week 16, they allowed a punt-return touchdown and missed an extra point in a game they mostly controlled until the end. Seattle’s victory gave it the first seed in the NFC, and the Rams never regained momentum.

In the Wild Card round, a blocked punt almost spelled disaster for the visiting Rams, and they weren’t having a banner day outside of that lone play, either.

Special teams were an issue all season, just like in Green Bay, and bad special teams played reared its head in their season-ending game. The difference is that the Rams made aggressive moves to address the problem. They simply didn’t work.

Sixth-round rookie Josh Karty was one of the league’s worst kickers, so they replaced him with “Thicker Kicker” Harrison Mevis, who sealed the victory over the Chicago Bears in the Divisional Round. In December, McVay fired special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn.

Even with these aggressive moves, special teams didn’t improve and directly led to the team’s season ending.

It’s not a new trend. The Packers and Rams consistently field below-average special teams, and the Niners aren’t much better.

Of course, Green Bay’s special teams woes predate Matt LaFleur’s tenure as head coach. Still, the solution needs to start with him.

Rick Gosselin ranked every team’s special teams unit until retiring after the 2023 season. Packers On SI’s Bill Huber has done his own version of these rankings the past two seasons. Here’s how McVay, Shanahan, and LaFleur graded out since 2020:

Rams: 30, 16, 29, 32, 22, 26
49ers: 27, 25, 17, 25, 32, 11
Packers: 29, 32, 22, 29, 22, 20

Not a great group of numbers!

It’s pretty remarkable how much worse the Packers and Rams have been at special teams compared to everyone else in the 2020s (playoff included) pic.twitter.com/MRhKFMjaUX

— Anthony Dabbundo (@AnthonyDabbundo) January 23, 2026

Of course, the 49ers and Rams have made Super Bowls during this time period, with the Rams winning the 2021 season. Huber’s 2025 rankings found no strong correlation between special teams play and postseason success. The Seahawks won the NFC by fielding a strong unit, while New England was slightly below average and came out of the AFC.

But, as Bisaccia said of teams, “It seems we want to dwell on the negative at times around here.”

Special teams are often ignored except when they lose games. Unfortunately, the Packers et al. have these negative plays occur at the worst times.

Still, this trend, along with the fact that nothing about special teams seems to improve in Green Bay, shows that this issue transcends coordinators.

At a fundamental level, Green Bay’s design philosophy doesn’t lend itself to success in special teams. Firing Bisaccia and releasing McManus won’t solve the core issue, even if they’re probably good places to start.

Something about how LaFleur, McVay, and Shanahan approach the game leaves special teams behind. All three head coaches have choked in the postseason, thanks in part to special-teams miscues. If the Piss Boys want any substantial change, the three offensive geniuses need to get a think tank built to ponder this mystery.