Bisaccia Questions Any Questioning of Snapper Matt Orzech

After a couple of bad snaps the last few weeks, does Rich Bisaccia have any concerns about long snapper Matt Orzech?

Green Bay Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia / Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Is there any concern with Green Bay Packers long snapper Matt Orzech, who had a high punt snap against the Rams and …

“I have absolutely no concern,” special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia interrupted. “You can save the rest of your question.”

Against the Rams three weeks ago, Orzech’s punt snap would have sailed out of the end zone if not for a leaping catch by punter Daniel Whelan. Last week against the Texans, Orzech’s snap on the game-winning field goal was low, with Whelan saving the day with a superb catch and hold to allow Brandon McManus to make the winning field goal.

After two terrible snaps in three weeks, why does Bisaccia have such a strong level of trust?

“Because I see him every day,” Bisaccia said. “I see over 70 snaps a day every day. The guy’s been with us for two years so my experience, my wisdom tells me he’s a really good player. I’ll stand by that.”

PFF’s grades certainly should not be treated as gospel. However, for what they’re worth, Orzech, who was released and re-signed this week, has the fourth-lowest grade among regular snappers.

“He’s played in a Super Bowl and he is a calming force for us,” Bisaccia said. “There was a little bit of a revolving door here at snapper.”

Oddly, that revolving door includes the Eagles’ Rick Lovato, the Panthers’ J.J. Jansen, the Buccaneers’ Zach Triner and the 49ers’ Taybor Pepper.

All four are established snappers who were with the Packers at the start of or early in their careers.

Long snapper wasn’t the only problem on Green Bay’s special teams last week. There was a muffed punt that Keisean Nixon didn’t catch or communicate, which led to a turnover. There was Jayden Reed sprinting backward about 20 yards to catch the ball at the goal line, resulting in 16 yards of lost field position. There was a long kickoff return that included three missed tackles, resulting in about 15 yards of field position.

At the time of his hiring in 2022, Bisaccia was the highest-paid special teams coordinator in the NFL.

Sometimes, you get what you pay for. Sometimes, you don’t. In Rick Gosselin’s exhaustive special teams rankings, the Packers ranked 22nd in 2022 – a tremendous success considering Green Bay’s history – but retreated to 29th last year.

Despite last week’s problems, Green Bay’s special teams are off to a decent start. In five key areas:

Kickoff return: 18th in starting field position (29.1-yard line).

Kickoff coverage: Sixth in opponent starting field position (28.6).

Net punting average: Sixth (43.9).

Opponent net punting: 23rd (43.1).

Field goal percentage: 30th (but 1-for-1 with Brandon McManus).

“I don’t really look too far behind and I really, I can promise you, I do not look too far ahead,” Bisaccia said. “I like to stay where my feet are and try to preach the same thing to our players. I think special teams in the National Football League is always a work in progress. Players are constantly changing in and out. I think as players come in and out and you lose some veteran players – we’ve lost (Tyler Davis), we’ve lost some other guys – rookies have to step up and play and play well for you. …

“Special teams in this league, I don’t think I’ve ever come out of a game as special teams coach where I’m actually happy. It just doesn’t happen. We had 29 plays in the game and four bad ones, and those four bad ones cost us about 143 yards of field position. I was fortunate enough to win a Super Bowl and in the Super Bowl got a punt blocked. So, I’m the only guy with a sad face at the party. I just think sometimes you can get comfortable and comfort breeds contentment, contentment breeds poor execution. I don’t want to ever live in that world.”

Is Bisaccia content with Orzech?

It seems that way. This is his fifth NFL season. He was the snapper when the Rams won the Super Bowl in 2021. This summer, he beat out undrafted free agent Peter Bowden during training camp because of his obviously better snap velocity.

The Packers obviously need Orzech to snap better. Maybe his off-target snaps against the Rams and Texans will be just blips on the radar by the end of the season, and Orzech will wind up being exactly as good as Bisaccia believes.

“Hope he’s here a long time,” Bisaccia said. “Hope he’s here a lot longer than me. It’d be good for the Green Bay Packers if he’s here a long time.”

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