Special Teams

[Arnold_Palmer]

I think this warrants its own thread but wow were the special teams great last night!

Banks was completely contained last night. 3.8 yards per punt return. Banks is the player who could completely swing the momentum of a game with a big return but he was a non factor all game. It's great seeing a starter like Ian Wild lead the charge with 3 ST tackles. Some players think special teams are beneath them but Wild continues to bring it on every play no matter the circumstances.

On the other hand. Kevin Fogg take a bow. 19.1 yards per punt return. Robbed of a touch down! Not the fastest guy but he has really good vision and is super shifty. Huge reason for the great field position we had in the first half.

That punt block was well executed, and really put the dagger in the Ti-Cats. Seeing Austins face was priceless.

Medlock. Ok he's worth every penny. 3/3 on field goals, no missed PAT's this year, and 44 yards per punt. Glad to see some consistency with our kicking game after years of it hurting us.

[Mike]

People wanted to rag on Medlock earlier in the year but really, I understand the struggles.

Left footed kicker who went through three holders in the early stages, none of whom had ever held for a left footed kicker before. No surprise there were blips. We went Dressler -> Sherman -> Dressler -> Nichols and now we seem to have it figured out.

[Nash00]

Our cover teams have been dynamite all year and last night was no exception. I can't believe I would but after FG's I was hoping we would kick off to Banks just so we could pin them inside the 20 again.

 

[Nash00]

Just now, Mike said:

People wanted to rag on Medlock earlier in the year but really, I understand the struggles.

Left footed kicker who went through three holders in the early stages, none of whom had ever held for a left footed kicker before. No surprise there were blips. We went Dressler -> Sherman -> Dressler -> Nichols and now we seem to have it figured out.

He was also relegated to kicking 70 yard FG's because our offense couldn't get past midfield. I'm sure his recovery also has been aided by the offense moving the ball and sustaining drives, getting further into opposition territory.

[Jpan85]

1 hour ago, Mike said:

People wanted to rag on Medlock earlier in the year but really, I understand the struggles.

Left footed kicker who went through three holders in the early stages, none of whom had ever held for a left footed kicker before. No surprise there were blips. We went Dressler -> Sherman -> Dressler -> Nichols and now we seem to have it figured out.

Also his punting has been excellent not deep but place perfectly. Remember people were in full panic mode about his punting before season. Bombers have the best punt cover team in the league. A lot of this has to do with the depth of the team and Walters drafting. Many people say picks like Waggoner are bust but when you can maintain gain field posistion the contributions those guys make are enormous.

[bearpants]

1 hour ago, Nash00 said:

Our cover teams have been dynamite all year and last night was no exception. I can't believe I would but after FG's I was hoping we would kick off to Banks just so we could pin them inside the 20 again.

 

I can't say I was that confident last night... still made me nervous kicking to Banks knowing he can change momentum at any moment... but I was really impressed with our cover teams last night...

[CodyT]

Maybe, just maybe, mr Oshea deserves some credit, too....

[JuranBoldenRules]

Much prefer Fogg to McDuffie.  Catches the punts effortlessly and protects the ball.

Should have 2 TD's in basically 2 games returning, both brought back for marginal (being generous) calls once he was already gone.

[Nash00]

1 minute ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Much prefer Fogg to McDuffie.  Catches the punts effortlessly and protects the ball.

Should have 2 TD's in basically 2 games returning, both brought back for marginal (being generous) calls once he was already gone.

The holding call last night yes, but the hands to the face call on Green was obvious. Just a stupid decision on that one.

[JuranBoldenRules]

2 minutes ago, Nash00 said:

The holding call last night yes, but the hands to the face call on Green was obvious. Just a stupid decision on that one.

Doesn't really need to be called IMO.  Inconsequential to the play and nothing really with intent behind it, hand in wrong place.  Ref easily could have easily let Green know he saw it and that he can't do that.

Edited August 4, 2016 by JuranBoldenRules

[Nash00]

Just now, JuranBoldenRules said:

Doesn't really need to be called IMO.  Inconsequential to the play and nothing really with intent behind it, hand in wrong place.  Ref easily could have easily let Green know he saw it and that he can't do that.

Sure they COULD. But for whatever reason refs like to call the ticky tack stuff on returns, and then the league has to add new rules to allow the returners to score more often. There's an easy fix in there somewhere.

[Jesse]

10 minutes ago, CodyT said:

Maybe, just maybe, mr Oshea deserves some credit, too....

No one has ever questioned his ability to be a great ST coach.

For better or for worse, he views it as a full third of the game and spends a lot of practice time on teams.

[bearpants]

9 minutes ago, Nash00 said:

The holding call last night yes, but the hands to the face call on Green was obvious. Just a stupid decision on that one.

just curious if you saw that hold on Knox?... I watched the replay and all I saw was Knox basically touching the arm of the defender around the time the flag was thrown... not sure if that was the actual penalty... but if it was, calling that borderline would be generous...

[HardCoreBlue]

14 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Much prefer Fogg to McDuffie.  Catches the punts effortlessly and protects the ball.

Should have 2 TD's in basically 2 games returning, both brought back for marginal (being generous) calls once he was already gone.

And what was nice always broke the first or second attempted tackle.

[Nash00]

3 minutes ago, bearpants said:

just curious if you saw that hold on Knox?... I watched the replay and all I saw was Knox basically touching the arm of the defender around the time the flag was thrown... not sure if that was the actual penalty... but if it was, calling that borderline would be generous...

I didn't see it. I think that the refs are being reactive on some of these occasions. They see a big play and they look for anything at all to warrant throwing the flag. Knox was guilty of looking like he might have done something so there goes the flag. I think a ref would sooner call back a good return than let one score when there actually was a hold/illegal block.

[Nash00]

4 minutes ago, HardCoreBlue said:

And what was nice always broke the first or second attempted tackle.

Maybe I'm in the minority here but I think McDuffie has done a nice job of speeding past first contact and getting upfield. Don't get me wrong, Fogg has been outstanding in relief but I think McDuffie is still a good use of the DI spot.

[Arnold_Palmer]

McDuffie is a good returner.. Fogg is simply just better.

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

29 minutes ago, Jpan85 said:

Also his punting has been excellent not deep but place perfectly. Remember people were in full panic mode about his punting before season. Bombers have the best punt cover team in the league. A lot of this has to do with the depth of the team and Walters drafting. Many people say picks like Waggoner are bust but when you can maintain gain field posistion the contributions those guys make are enormous.

I think he gets a lot of hang time in his punts- guys have more time to get into better position. He never out kicks his coverage.

[JuranBoldenRules]

2 minutes ago, Nash00 said:

Maybe I'm in the minority here but I think McDuffie has done a nice job of speeding past first contact and getting upfield. Don't get me wrong, Fogg has been outstanding in relief but I think McDuffie is still a good use of the DI spot.

McDuffie costs us field position far too often by letting the ball hit the turf.  He doesn't make up for that with great returns either.  Personally I'd try to find a better receiver to take a DI spot or promote Flanders to return kickoffs and give Harris some snaps on the sideline.

[Nash00]

1 minute ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

McDuffie costs us field position far too often by letting the ball hit the turf.  He doesn't make up for that with great returns either.  Personally I'd try to find a better receiver to take a DI spot or promote Flanders to return kickoffs and give Harris some snaps on the sideline.

I`ll agree to disagree on this one. Maybe my eyes are fooling me but he always seemed to be getting decent yardage on punt returns.

[Arnold_Palmer]

10 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

McDuffie costs us field position far too often by letting the ball hit the turf.  He doesn't make up for that with great returns either.  Personally I'd try to find a better receiver to take a DI spot or promote Flanders to return kickoffs and give Harris some snaps on the sideline.

Fun fact. McDuffie actually has a better return average then Brandon Banks.

[Nash00]

2 minutes ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

Fun fact. McDuffie actually has a better return average then Brandon Banks.

Banks was dancing and going backwards all night. I didn't hear Rod Black say Speedy B once, how refreshing.

[Bomber_fanaddict]

2 hours ago, Mike said:

People wanted to rag on Medlock earlier in the year but really, I understand the struggles.

Left footed kicker who went through three holders in the early stages, none of whom had ever held for a left footed kicker before. No surprise there were blips. We went Dressler -> Sherman -> Dressler -> Nichols and now we seem to have it figured out.

Nichols holding actually scares me. All it takes is a bad snap or a dumb penalty or rough play by the other team and he's hurt. I know the holder doesn't often get hurt and it would likely be a fluke injury but its not a chance they should be taking. You're in a pretty vulnerable position when your holding. Just my take

[do or die]

Medlock does get some pretty good hang time on them punts....

[JuranBoldenRules]

1 hour ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

Fun fact. McDuffie actually has a better return average then Brandon Banks.

Fogg is better than both of them.

McDuffie is fine on kickoffs, but really doesn't do much else better than average.  I'd prefer someone who could contribute on O or D with that DI spot if a starter is going to return punts.