Why the Green Bay Packers Need a New Vision on Special Teams
In a league full of quick-triggered decision-makers, Mike McCarthy remains a loyal man. Sometimes loyal to a fault.
The Green Bay Packers head coach now needs to break character and give his floundering special teams a new vision, which must include replacing current coordinator and longtime coaching friend Shawn Slocum. The two began their coaching careers together in 1990, when both were graduate assistants at the University of Pittsburgh. McCarthy then brought Slocum to Green Bay when he was hired as head coach in 2006 and promoted him to special teams coordinator in 2009.
A disastrous 2014 season should mark the end of the professional relationship.
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The Packers finished dead last in The Dallas Morning News' annual special teams rankings, a respected list using a number of statistical factors to compare the league's 32 teams. Green Bay has now ranked 29th or worse three different times since Slocum was hired six years ago, with a best finish of only 12th (2012).
| 2009 | 31st |
| 2010 | 29th |
| 2011 | 13th |
| 2012 | 12th |
| 2013 | 20th |
| 2014 | 32nd |
At some point, results must demand change.
In 2014, Green Bay allowed a league-high seven blocked kicks, received next to nothing in terms of kick returning and finished as one of the NFL's worst teams punting the football. A trip to the Super Bowl was then stolen away in the NFC Championship Game when two major blunders—a touchdown allowed on a fake field goal and a botched onside kick recovery—helped allow the Seattle Seahawks to storm back and beat the Packers.
Excuses are hard to come by. The Packers were healthy up and down the roster for most of the season. In recent years, Slocum has had to deal with a musical chairs of players coming and going due to injury. Continuity was stressed. Not in 2014.
Players still need to execute between the white lines. But when mistakes are repeated and patterns emerge across seasons, the coaching staff becomes the common denominator.
Special teams coordinators are often disliked in every football city. Offenses score points and defenses make critical stops, but special teams are mostly a transitional aspect of the game. Mistakes are emphasized because good outcomes are generally neutral, uneventful plays.
Slocum's unit simply had too many eventful transitions in 2014.
The problems began in Seattle and ended in Seattle.
DuJuan Harris caught the opening kick of the 2014 season six yards deep in the end zone and failed to advance the football past the 15-yard line. He would go on to average just 20.7 yards per return, the second-worst finish among qualified kickoff returners in the NFL. It took the Packers 16 weeks to make a change.
When the Packers' first possession of the year eventually stalled, punter Tim Masthay came on and delivered a 29-yard kick. His net punting average of 37 yards would eventually rank 30th, while his 14 kicks inside the 20 finished dead last. Ten of his 49 punts traveled 35 yards or less.
The Packers made a defensive stop on Seattle's first possession, but Mike Daniels gave the Seahawks new life when he ran into the punter on fourth down. After another stop, Green Bay had to call timeout with 12 men on the field to avoid another chain-moving penalty.
The early sequence was a cruel foreshadowing of things to come.
During Seattle's title-game comeback, two of the most important plays came on special teams.
The Seahawks first took advantage of meticulous scouting, executing a fake field goal against the overwhelmed left side of Green Bay's kick coverage. Robert Klemko of MMQB.com reported Seattle identified beforehand that Packers linebacker Brad Jones was "recklessly aggressive" against field goals in Green Bay's win over the Dallas Cowboys. So when Jones came on the field during a 16-0 game in the third quarter, Seattle pounced.
Jones crashed down, cornerback Davon House lazily gave up outside contain and linebacker A.J. Hawk made the curious decision to leave his coverage to chase (former Packers) punter Jon Ryan. One easy throw to the end zone and the Seahawks were right back in the game.
Seattle deserves credit for identifying the trend. Slocum deserves criticism for missing his own player's reckless tendencies. And for his unit being wholly unprepared to defend a situation reeking of trickery.
Yet even after 59 minutes of playing with fire, all the Packers needed to do was recover an onside kick to get to the Super Bowl. But when Brandon Bostick went rogue, abandoning his blocking responsibilities to attempt making the catch, everything came crashing down.
The bouncing football went through Bostick's hands and ended up in Seattle's possession, which set in motion the rest of the collapse. Had Bostick simply made his block, Jordy Nelson was waiting all by his lonesome to make the catch and seal the game.
The special teams mistakes finally caught up to the Packers.
Green Bay hadn't lost a game during the regular season solely because of special teams. Six of the seven blocked kicks came in wins. The offense was generally more to blame in the four losses, even if a punt return for a touchdown and a blocked field goal helped spark the Buffalo Bills' upset in Week 15.
That said, a 10-point swing the Packers' way in Buffalo would have given Green Bay a win. And a win over the Bills would have locked up home-field advantage for the Packers in the NFC playoffs, forcing Seattle to come to Lambeau Field for the title game.
The special teams dominoes were falling all season.
The Packers gave up seven blocked kicks—more than twice the next-highest amount in a single season since 1990—thanks to a number of blunders. Protection issues allowed pressure from the outside and the interior, with both mental and physical errors contributing. Masthay also dropped one snap and mishandled another.
Below is a chart of all the blocks:
| FG | at Bears | 4:52, 4th | 38-17 |
| Punt | at Dolphins | 4:25, 1st | 7-3 |
| EXP | vs. Eagles | 2:00, 2nd | 30-3 |
| Punt | vs. Eagles | 4:03, 4th | 53-20 |
| EXP | vs. Falcons | 10:38, 4th | 43-20 |
| FG | at Bills | 6:10, 2nd | 10-10 |
| FG | vs. Lions | 13:45, 4th | 21-14 |
The bright spots for Slocum's units, including two punt returns for touchdowns by Micah Hyde and a terrific season from kicker Mason Crosby, shouldn't be enough for him to get a seventh season as special teams coordinator.
McCarthy has realized the need for change. The Packers let former special teams assistant Chad Morton go after the 2013 season, eventually hiring Ron Zook for the same position. The change didn't make a noticeable impact in 2014.
The Packers tried administrative shuffling. The roster was finally healthy. But Green Bay still plummeted to the basement of the NFL in special teams during the regular season, culminating with a trip to the Super Bowl being stolen away because of continued mistakes in the playoffs. The results, or lack thereof, speak loudly.
McCarthy has given Slocum—a coaching friend for many years—enough chances. The damage has been done. Change is the only option now.
Zach Kruse covers the NFC North for Bleacher Report.
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