What a way to bounce back.
After a rough Week 3 that saw the Chiefs’ special teams crew commit egregious error after error, coordinator Dave Toub’s unit rebounded the best way possible: by punching the opponent in the mouth early.
The Chiefs’ Week 4 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers started off with a Chris Lammons-forced fumble on kickoff coverage, with Elijah Lee getting the scoop. Two plays later Kansas City was up seven and never gave up the lead.
Take a sec to appreciate Chris Lammons & Elijah Lee (also Jack Cochrane & Bryan Cook) for setting the tone with the forced fumble on the opening kickoff.
May have been a different ballgame if #Chiefs didn't start by punching the Bucs in the mouth. Special teams bounced back big. pic.twitter.com/hvjjlC1VOt
— Wes Roesch (@WesleyRoesch) October 5, 2022
That’s how you do it. Last week we talked about how Toub was partially to blame for the team’s special teams woes, but also how he should be judged less on one bad week and more on how he can get his unit back on track. Like good coaches do, Toub not only got his squad back on track — he turned it back into a strength.
This week we’ll focus on just one subunit since the punt coverage and punt return teams didn’t see much action, and nine of the game’s 14 total kickoffs resulted in touchbacks or a kick out of bounds. The focus will be on Isiah Pacheco and the Chiefs’ kick return subunit, with some other notes to round things out.
As always, my snap counts and grades for individual players are available via Google Sheets.
Kick returns: Isiah Pacheco keeps improving
Following Week 3, Pacheco was averaging 19.3 yards per kick return. Now? 23 yards per return. He’s on the incline, and it shows in the film.
Pacheco got off to a good start in Week 3 with his first three kick returns but cooled off with his final two returns. As many rookies do, he tried to make too much happen with those last two returns. He was impatient and it cost him.
In Week 4 it was reversed — he hesitated with his first return but redeemed with his final two. Here was his first return which he took for 23 yards:
In Pacheco’s defense, he did catch Olakunle Fatukasi (Bucs’ No. 53) to his left at the last second, which made Pacheco decide to continue north since Jack Cochrane (Chiefs’ No. 43) missed his block.
I wonder if Pacheco could have bounced left or right for more yards instead of moving north. These plays move fast so it’s tough to judge. Ultimately, I’d chalk this play up to Pacheco being more of a north-south runner than east-west, though his east-west movement is improving.
In fact, that improvement stood out on his second return which went for 26 yards. It wasn’t as long as the 42-yard return that we’ll discuss later, but I actually think this was his most impressive return of the day:
Pacheco immediately wanted to go left on this return. I’m not sure whether that was designed or by instinct, but either way, it was a good decision because the Bucs had a free defender up in the top right that would have gone unblocked on his way to Pacheco.
When Pacheco got past the 10-yard line, he had two choices: bounce further left or take it up to the middle-right. At first glance, the middle-right looked like the best lane, but it wasn’t. That aforementioned free defender would have gone unblocked since Jerick McKinnon had his back turned after falling over:
That defender might have met Pacheco near the 20-yard line, so Pacheco cut left. Once he cut, he noticed another two free defenders out on the edge. He decided to cut back inside and follow his blocks:
Unfortunately, Cochrane couldn’t quite hold onto his block long enough, allowing Anthony Nelson (Bucs’ No. 98) to get the tackle. Still, Pacheco put in a lot of work on this play, showing tremendous vision and instincts. I think a worse returner could have ended up with 20 yards or less on this return. Also, if Cochrane holds up for just another second, Pacheco probably takes this return past the 30.
Pacheco’s third return (mentioned earlier) went for 42 yards, and was really just a display of Pacheco’s 4.37-second speed:
The job of the Bucs’ L1 and R1 (the two players nearest each sideline prior to the kick) is to make sure Pacheco doesn’t break free if all other blocks fail. The Bucs’ L1 (No. 35) was supposed to contain, or keep Pacheco moving inside. Instead, the L1 was blocked by Deon Bush (Chiefs’ No. 26) allowing Pacheco to move outside.
The Bucs’ R1 (No. 24) is supposed to fold when Pacheco moves to the right, acting as a safety. He dawdled a bit too much, though — if Bucs punter Jake Camarda (No. 5) didn’t make an impressive play to slow down Pacheco’s footing, this one would have been taken to the house. I have doubts that the R1 would have caught up with him in time.
Overall, it has been an encouraging couple of weeks for Pacheco. He has 207 kick return yards, good for third in the NFL, and his 23-yard-per-return average is 11th best for those with at least four returns. Pacheco is becoming a better returner and a better running back every week, and I bet the experience he’s getting returning kicks is actually helping him as a running back, and vice versa.
More special teams notes
Here are a few more things to note about the Chiefs’ special teams unit in Week 4:
- The Chiefs released kicker Matt Ammendola after Week 3 and picked up Matthew Wright as the team awaits Harrison Butker’s return from an ankle injury. Wright did a fine job subbing in for Butker, going 2-for-2 on field goals and 5-for-5 on extra points. Not bad for a guy who was just signed.
- On the opening kickoff when Lammons forced the fumble, Bryan Cook and Jack Cochrane also contributed by slowing down the returner. Kudos to those two who both had good special teams performances overall in Week 4.
- Skyy Moore had a chance to return two more punts in Week 4. He called a fair catch on one and took another for 12 yards. The one that ended up a fair catch seemed returnable, so I wonder if Moore was a little nervous about the return after his fumble in Week 3.
- Toub included extra (vice) jammers to cover the Bucs’ gunners on both sides for all three of the Chiefs’ punt returns in Week 4. My guess is Toub wanted to focus less on blocking punts and more on getting Moore some help on his returns.
- Tommy Townsend punted just once in Week 4, which shows how effective the Chiefs’ offense was. Townsend has averaged 54.5 yards per punt, good for second best in the NFL among qualified punters (those who average 2.5 punts per team’s games played).
- On that note, the Chiefs’ punt coverage subunit has allowed 6.5 yards per punt return, good for the 12th best in the league. It has also allowed the fifth-least punt return yards with 26.
