Special Teams Showing Little Progress

Packers coach Matt LaFleur isn’t happy with the performances on special teams, though any critique comes with an obvious asterisk.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ special teams were destroyed by the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night.

Kansas City’s Corey Coleman had a 45-yard kickoff return; the Packers’ four kickoff returns gained a total of 56 yards.

Green Bay punted six times and allowed 118 return yards. Kansas City punted five times and yielded 0 yards.

Pro Football Focus charged the Packers with six missed tackles compared to only one for Kansas City. That shows, obviously, poor tackling but also a lack of juice from the returners.

“It was definitely not good enough the other night, that’s for sure,” coach Matt LaFleur said on Saturday. “We definitely got it taken to us pretty good by Kansas City.”

Pretty good is a pretty big understatement. The Packers lost the field-position battle by 166 yards, with most of the difference coming against new coordinator Rich Bisaccia’s we-fense.

Of course, there’s an asterisk to it all. The Packers relied on their backups. Green Bay’s return unit for the opening kickoff consisted of Innis Gaines, Ray Wilborn, Micah Abernathy, Ty Summers, Shemar Jean-Charles, Jonathan Garvin, Alize Mack, Kingsley Enagbare, Juwann Winfree and Patrick Taylor all blocking for Amari Rodgers. Of the blockers, only Jean-Charles and Winfree have been No. 1s on the practice field. Among the core players not on that unit were outside linebacker Tipa Galeai, inside linebackers Krys Barnes and Isaiah McDuffie, and tight end Tyler Davis.

“We certainly played a lot of guys, and that was by design,” LaFleur said. “We wanted to get a good evaluation on each and every individual that could potentially contribute to our football team. So, that’s been a big-time emphasis.

“Is it where we want it to be? I think I can honestly say no, it’s not where we want it to be. But I don’t think any phase is at this point. We’re going to have to prove it Week 1, and then you’re going to have to prove it every game after that. So, you’re only as good as your last game, and we understand the criticism that comes with it and this is a big-boy league. There’s a lot of eyes on every player that steps out on that field.”

The Packers and Chiefs have two of the most highly regarded special teams coordinators in the NFL. Dave Toub is entering his 10th season in Kansas City. His units finished 20th in Rick Gosselin’s annual rankings in 2020 but soared to No. 4 in 2021. That was a league-best 16-spot improvement.

The Packers are counting on the same sort of improvement under their new coordinator, Bisaccia. Last season under Maurice Drayton, Green Bay finished 32nd in Gosselin’s rankings. That’s familiar territory.

“When you have good players,” Bisaccia said recently, “the system looks really good. When you don’t have as good of players, the system doesn’t look as good. Talent matters, offensively, defensively. In the kicking game, talent matters.”

The Packers must reduce their roster to 53 players by 3 p.m. Tuesday. After that, Bisaccia will have about a week-and-a-half to focus on the more talented players who will battle the Minnesota Vikings in the opener.

Presumably, with the core special teamers on the field, the Packers won’t be routed like they were on Thursday. The only major concern following the preseason is whether Bisaccia’s coaching points are clicking. Apparently, they aren’t for the bubble players who lined up against the Chiefs.

“The thing that I would like to see is just some of the things that we do in practice, you’d like to see that carry over to the game,” LaFleur said. “And not just these made-up techniques that we don’t coach and we don’t see in practice. I think that’s the most frustrating thing is when you see that or a lack of effort – the things that you can control. Because there’s some things that are out of your control, but the lack of effort … it wasn’t everybody, but there were a couple guys that it was glaring on tape. It’s like, ‘You cannot put this on film.’ Not only for the Green Bay Packers, but for the entire league. Everybody’s watching this tape.”