The Kansas City Chiefs had five more special teams snaps in Week 2 than they did in Week 1, yet the action in that phase was sparse overall in the win over the Los Angeles Chargers compared to the previous week.
Why is that? It could be that eight of the 11 kickoffs resulted in touchbacks, or that five of the 12 punts resulted in fair catches. There were also more extra points (six) than field goals (three) — and let’s face it — players tend to try much harder blocking field goals than extra points.
That all adds up to almost 60 percent of special teams plays being, well, uneventful. Those weeks will happen. When it comes to special teams, there are usually just a handful of plays that have a game-swinging impact. And when those plays come, you’ll be thankful to have a prepared squad and a good special teams coordinator like Dave Toub.
This week I have just one particular play to highlight, plus several notes about other special teams subunits. I also finished charting the snaps for each subunit and assigned grades to each player and play. You can find my snap counts and grades here via Google Sheets.
Kick returns: That was a close one
The Chiefs “returned” just one kickoff in Week 2. The other four were touchbacks. The one they returned? Not actually a return — it was an onside kick recovery.
Onside kicks are highly stressful for the return team despite having anywhere between a four to 20 percent success rate year to year for the kicking team. Maybe the low success rate is why it’s so stressful for the return team — no special teams unit wants to be one of the few that allows an onside kick recovery. And no single player wants to be the one who muffs the return and allows the opposing squad to have another chance to score.
You can file the Chiefs’ onside kick return against the Chargers under “stress-inducing.” Leading 27-17, the K.C. defense had just given up a touchdown to the Chargers with 1:11 to go in the game, making it 27-24. The Chargers had one timeout left. An onside kick recovery would have given them the ball around their own 45-yard line. An ideal situation for them, not so much for the Chiefs.
Naturally, L.A. went for the onside kick. Here’s how the Chiefs lined up to return:
This 7-2-1-1 formation covers a lot of ground in case the Chargers try to squib, kick-off deep or onside kick to either side. There was a high chance of an onside kick in this scenario, and with a right-footed kicker, the Chiefs were ready for a kick to come to their left side.
The strategy is to stick good blockers up front and tall, fast guys who can jump directly behind them. They need to be tall in case the kick comes high, and they should be fast so they can reach the ball quickly. Justin Watson is 6-foot-2 with a 40-inch vertical while Jody Fortson is 6-foot-4 with sure hands, making those two perfect fits to potentially recover an onside kick.
The onside ended up going to the left, and the result may have briefly given Chiefs fans mild heart attacks:
Watson is normally sure-handed, but the ball bounced right out of his chest and onto the ground. Luckily, the rest of the Chiefs’ kick return unit was on its A-game. Chris Lammons, Michael Burton and Deon Bush all threw individual blocks that kept Charger defenders at bay long enough for the Chiefs to get after the ball.
The goal for the right side at this point was to hustle to the opposite side as quickly as possible to provide backup. Noah Gray got there first, diving onto the ball and making sure he didn’t leave the pile without it. The Chiefs got the ball and won the game.
It’s easy to be frustrated with Watson for dropping the initial recovery. If the Chargers would have recovered, there’s a good chance they would have at least tied the game with a field goal, sending it to overtime. However, if you watch from all three angles, you really get a sense of how quickly these types of plays move.
Unlike a pass from a quarterback, the trajectory of the football on onside kicks is unexpected and often (intentionally) wacky thanks to the way the kicker hits it with his foot. There are about two seconds between the kicker’s contact with the ball and the time it reaches first contact by a defender. It’s truly a blink-and-you-miss-it type of play.
Even so, the ball hit Watson in the breadbasket which means he should have had it locked down. It’s ultimately a negative play on his part. But next time he’s in this situation, you can likely bet he’ll make sure to hang on for dear life.
More special teams notes
There wasn’t much to dive deep into in Week 2, but here are some quick hitters:
- Matt Ammendola did an excellent job subbing in at kicker for Harrison Butker (and Justin Reid). He went 2-for-2 on field goals and 3-for-3 on extra points. Luckily his services weren’t required for a long field goal, as his range isn’t as far as Butker’s.
- Isiah Pacheco didn’t get a chance to return a kick and Skyy Moore returned just two punts (his other four were fair catches). One of those punt returns was negated by a penalty by Bryan Cook. Alas, we should get more looks at Pacheco and Moore as returners in Week 3.
- Speaking of Cook, he hasn’t graded well on special teams by my standards: through two weeks, I’ve given him a 0 percent on kickoff coverage, 37.5 percent on punt returns and 57.14 percent on punt coverage.* He has been a bit too aggressive which has led to missed blocks or tackles. I’d chalk it up to rookie inexperience — he absolutely has the tools to be a positive special teams player moving forward. Also, on the plus side, he’s graded at 100 percent on kick returns.
- With cornerback Trent McDuffie on injured reserve, CB Dicaprio Bootle was called up to the 53-man roster. He played 13 special teams snaps across kickoff coverage and both sides of the punt game. He was solid as a gunner in punt coverage and will probably receive more looks there moving forward as long as McDuffie is out.
- The George Karlaftis Block Watch continues. For the second week in a row, he beat a blocker on an extra point attempt. He didn’t get the block, but I would bet he’ll get there eventually.
- There were two fourth-and-short plays where Toub anticipated a possible fake punt. When Toub thinks there’s a chance for a fake, he leaves in linebackers Willie Gay and Nick Bolton, defensive end George Karlaftis and defensive backs Rashad Fenton and Juan Thornhill. Those guys normally don’t play on punt returns. Neither of the punts ended up being fakes, which was probably a good decision by the Chargers with those starters staying on the field.
*”Percent” equals the percentage of plays where he was productive and/or made a positive impact on the outcome of the play.
