Bills’ special teams— mea culpa (for now)

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

Setting aside the fake punt (arguable you can even do that), the Bills ST was surprisingly competent, and maybe came out ahead of the Broncos.

 

1) Better on FGs and PATs.

 

2) Allowed no great returns against a dangerous returner, and, in fact, had a great coverage hit (Hollins).

 

3) Had several great returns (Shakir punt and one Ty Kick return).

 

4) Competent and not catastrophic punting (though broncos probable edged us on this, pinning us back on that one inside the 5).

 

Overall, they just had to be decent, and they were. So good job!! 

[GASabresIUFan]

Smiley must do a better job sniffing out fake kicks.

[GunnerBill]

Did we only punt once? That helps.

[Big Blitz]

This week I heard more about a freaking punt returner (Mims) than I can ever remember. Like he was Devin Hester….even then I couldn’t have cared less.  
 

And who cares.  We don’t punt. 
 

When we did, dude got smoked. 
 

Was more worried about what he could do on offense.  

 

 

 

Props to Shakir and Ty today.  

[MJS]

12 minutes ago, GASabresIUFan said:

Smiley must do a better job sniffing out fake kicks.

Nobody saw it coming.

[GunnerBill]

Just now, MJS said:

Nobody saw it coming.

 

I didn't see it coming in that spot but I absolutely expected some sort of STs trick play at some point. Payton is known for it.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

4 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

Did we only punt once? That helps.

theme of the game. Bills offense helped play keep away from their own ST and defense. 

[Beast]

It only takes one game. I have no confidence in this unit. 

Edited 3 hours ago by Beast

[ChasBB]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFan said:

Smiley must do a better job sniffing out fake kicks.

It seemed well-disguised.  Anyhow, I think it just comes down to fundamentals.  As Tony Romo stated, the Bills guy (Ja'Marcus Ingram) turned his back and ran instead of keeping one eye on what the guy he was covering was doing.

Edited 1 hour ago by ChasBB
Clarity

[MJS]

Just now, GunnerBill said:

I didn't see it coming in that spot but I absolutely expected some sort of STs trick play at some point. Payton is known for it.

I agree. But the other team is going to make plays sometimes. Some fans think that if the other team does anything good that the coaches must have failed. It's the playoffs. The other teams got there for a reason.

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, MJS said:

I agree. But the other team is going to make plays sometimes. Some fans think that if the other team does anything good that the coaches must have failed. It's the playoffs. The other teams got there for a reason.

 

Spot on. Great post.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

Just now, ChasBB said:

It seemed well-disguised.  Anyhow, I think it just comes down to fundamentals, as the announcer stated,  Bills guy turned and ran instead of keeping one eye on what the guy he was covering was doing.

You said it best: fundamentals. My view is that ST play is all about fundamentals, which is really a reflection of coaching.

[YoloinOhio]

5 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I didn't see it coming in that spot but I absolutely expected some sort of STs trick play at some point. Payton is known for it.

He pulled it too early 

[Starr Almighty]

7 minutes ago, MJS said:

Nobody saw it coming.

Mims did 😏

[Einstein]

No idea what game you were watching but the ST’s were below average as usual.

 

- Martin almost got blocked on our one punt (watch it again). His lead up is soooo long.

 

- Gave up a first down on a fake punt that Tony Romo predicted after watching them turn their backs in practice when guarding the gunners (but apparently Smiley didn’t).

 

- No one blocked Denver’s punt team from downing the ball at the 1 yard line. All it would take is blocking the one Bronco near the endzone.

 

I suppose you can say they didn’t give up anything catastrophic, but they certainly did not play well.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

No penalties on I think five punts. That is good. Shakir should have fielded the ball at the 7 instead of letting it bounce to be downed at 1. Other than that he was great. I'd be fine if they let him return the rest of the playoffs.

Ingram needs to pay attention to the gunner and not worry about getting back to block. I've not paid attention becuase they don't show the gunner on TV but he has probably been doing that all year and Bronco saw something they could exploit. 

[Man with No Name]

3 minutes ago, Einstein said:

- Gave up a first down on a fake punt that Tony Romo predicted after watching them turn their backs in practice when guarding the gunners (but apparently Smiley didn’t).

There's a reason Tony Romo makes 20 million per year. He's probably a lot smarter than Smiley. Romo would most likely be a really good to great coach if that's what he wanted to do. 

[Doc]

Have the Broncos tried a fake punt anytime else this year?

[Chaos]

10 minutes ago, Doc said:

Have the Broncos tried a fake punt anytime else this year?

They tried a fake punt in every playoff game they played in this year. 

[GunnerBill]

17 minutes ago, Einstein said:

No idea what game you were watching but the ST’s were below average as usual.

 

- Martin almost got blocked on our one punt (watch it again). His lead up is soooo long.

 

- Gave up a first down on a fake punt that Tony Romo predicted after watching them turn their backs in practice when guarding the gunners (but apparently Smiley didn’t).

 

- No one blocked Denver’s punt team from downing the ball at the 1 yard line. All it would take is blocking the one Bronco near the endzone.

 

I suppose you can say they didn’t give up anything catastrophic, but they certainly did not play well.

 

The not blocking the Bronco who downed that punt was because their flankers were then playing the fake, it was 4 downs after the fake punt they didn't play. And it was a great punt. I don't really blame Smiley on that although I reserve the right to change my mind when I see the all22.