One overlooked downside to injuries in football is their effect on special teams.
Of course, injuries hurt the offense and defense as well, but special teams can sometimes suffer even more. Why? Because, much of the time, players who fill in on offense and defense have received significant — albeit not starter-level — snaps. Meanwhile, players who fill in on special teams are often inexperienced practice squad players who have barely seen the field.
That inexperience can lead to rough results. It definitely did during the Chiefs’ 24-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 6. With safety Bryan Cook out due to concussion symptoms, Zayne Anderson filled in on special teams. The results were not great.
However, that lack of depth can make way for new players to shine. That happened in Week 6 as well. We’ll discuss that, plus review how injuries have hurt the Chiefs’ kick return subunit this whole year, not just in Week 6. Additionally, my special teams stats, snap counts and grades for individual players are available via Google Sheets.
Kick returns: Does Isiah Pacheco still have the juice?
A couple of weeks ago we examined the kick return ability of rookie running back Isiah Pacheco. It’s safe to say his short career as a kick returner has been up and down. He’s had some really good returns, including one that has gone for 42 yards, and some bad returns where he has shown hesitation or straight-up fell down.
Week 6 was not kind to Pacheco in the return game. He had three returns for just 43 yards, an average of 14.3 yards per return. That’s plain bad on paper. But were the short returns in Week 6 really Pacheco’s fault? Let’s take a look.
Here’s Pacheco’s first return of the day, which went for 18 yards to the 21-yard line:
Bills kicker Tyler Bass kicked every kickoff to the left in this game. That seemed to be a smart decision because it limited Pacheco’s options to the left or middle, basically cutting off a third of the field. Pacheco has actually seen the most success returning to the right side of the field this year, reaching the 31-yard line per return on average.
When Pacheco caught the ball, you’ll notice the outer left by the sidelines and the right side by the hash marks were completely taken up by free Bills defenders:
Pacheco’s only choice was to take this one up the middle-left. Once he got up to about the 15-yard line, he found a lane and cut to his left:
At the above stopping point, the lane looked perfect for Pacheco to squeeze through and get up past the 30-yard line, possibly further. But that lane closed quickly when Chris Lammons (No. 29) and Zayne Anderson (No. 39) blew their blocking assignments:
In Lammons’ case, he didn’t do a good enough job of squaring up with the defender. When blocking on kick returns, getting square is key — if you end up at an angle toward your chosen defender, there’s a good chance you’ll end up blocking their shoulder which will allow them just enough leeway to penetrate toward the returner.
A full-on tackle by the defender wouldn’t be necessary, either — a slight nudge can be just enough to slow down the returner and break their momentum. As a returner, losing momentum means you’ll likely be stopped. There are just too many bodies flying after returners for them to regain their composure and carry on.
In Anderson’s case, he was simply overpowered and knocked over. It happens often to some defensive backs when they match up against stronger defenders. Many DBs aren’t as used to blocking — they’re used to being the hammer, not the nail, so to speak.
This was pretty much the story for Pacheco on all three of his returns against the Bills. Watch on his second return how he finds a similar lane (at the 0:06-second mark) but is stalled thanks to whiffed blocks by Anderson and Noah Gray (No. 83):
Approached by three defenders, Pacheco really had no chance on that second return.
On his last return of the day, Pacheco chose to take it up the middle despite receiving the ball on the left side:
Again, Pacheco found a lane but was met by two defenders who won against Gray and Anderson. It was a rough blocking day for those two on kick returns. Going back to the discussion about injuries and depth, the Chiefs really missed Cook who has been solid as a blocker on kick returns. With my grading system, I have Cook winning and making a productive play on 80 percent of his chances on kick returns. Meanwhile, Anderson lost on all four of his kick return snaps (one was kicked short and returned by fullback Michael Burton).
Gray has graded rather low on kick returns with my system as well, making a productive play on just 45 percent of his tries. That’s where I think the Chiefs are missing Blake Bell, who has been on injured reserve all season due to a hip injury. Bell has generally been a better and more experienced blocker, so his presence could help in this subunit.
As for Pacheco, blocking hasn’t been all to blame for his shorter returns this season. Pacheco needs to be more certain with his decisions, especially since they’re usually the correct ones. He’s averaging just 20.8 yards per return — 14th among returners with at least six returns — but he is tied with two others for the second-most returns which means he’s getting much more work than most kick returners in the league. Averages might come down across the board once others get as much work as Pacheco has.
To those worried about Pacheco as a returner, don’t fret. It’s a learning curve, especially for a guy who hasn’t returned kicks since 2018 (in college at Rutgers). Keep in mind that it takes time for players to develop a knack for returns, and it’s rare for rookies to come in and be experts.
Take Jamaal Charles, for instance. He returned kicks during his rookie season in 2008 and averaged 21.4 yards per return. And that was during an era when it was easier to get return yards since the kickoff team had to line up on their own 30-yard line instead of the 35. Charles’ next year, however, was a big improvement — he bumped his average up to 25.7 yards per return and returned one kick for a touchdown.
That’s not to say that Pacheco will become Charles — it’s way too early for that sort of talk. It’s more to point out that even the greats took time to get in the groove. The important thing was earning those reps and figuring out how to improve.
Punt coverage: Chiefs special teams at its best
There was a positive takeaway from the Chiefs’ special teams unit in Week 6: their punt coverage is still among the league’s best. Football Outsiders has the Chiefs’ punting subunit ranked second in DVOA, almost two full points above the next team.
Much of that has to do with punter Tommy Townsend, who has been absolutely booming punts this season. He has always had a strong leg, but he’s controlling them well this year, too. He’s dropped seven of his 18 punts inside the 20-yard line, five inside the 10 and two inside the 5. He also leads the league in net average punt yards with 49.8, a stat he led the league in last year as well.
It’s not just Townsend, though. The Chiefs’ punt coverage subunit as a whole is on another level. It has allowed just 35 punt return yards — third best in the league — at an average of just five yards per return, good for fourth best.
Part of the Chiefs’ punt coverage success has been due to linebacker Elijah Lee, who has two solo tackles and two assisted tackles on punt coverage this season. Unfortunately, Lee wasn’t called up from the practice squad in Week 6 as the Chiefs utilized their maximum amount of callups for Lee.
Leaving Lee on the scout team made way for 2020 undrafted free agent Cole Christiansen to get the call. Week 6 was Christiansen’s eighth career game, and the first with the Chiefs. And luckily for the Chiefs, he filled in for Lee quite nicely.
The play that stood out the most for Christiansen was Townsend’s second punt of the game. Watch as Christiansen (No. 48) gets downfield, anticipates the angle made by Bills returner Khalil Shakir and makes the tackle for no gain:
The Chiefs may have another solid punt coverage addition on their hands in Christiansen. He’ll be a player to watch on special teams in the coming weeks should he receive more callups.
More special teams notes
Just a few more special teams notes to round things out:
- Journeyman kicker Matthew Wright set a Chiefs record for the longest-made field goal two weeks ago. Apparently, Harrison Butker, who made his return from injury in Week 6, took that personally. Butker ended up setting a record of his own with a 62-yard make:
Harrison Butker set the Arrowhead FG record at 62 yards a week after Wright set it at 59. This might have been good from 70 and he knew it right after he kicked. HE TURNED AROUND BEFORE IT WENT THROUGH. What a damn legend pic.twitter.com/7W9pMpPcil
— Daniel Harms🏈 (@InHarmsWay19) October 18, 2022
- Butker followed up that 62-yarder with a miss from 51 yards. We’ll chalk that up to rust? Jitters? Over-excitement from setting the franchise record? Whatever, Butker is usually nails. We’ll let it slide.
- The punt return squad also struggled in Week 6. Skyy Moore hesitated and picked up six yards on a return where he might’ve been able to go for more, and Mecole Hardman muffed his punt return. Luckily, Hardman did a good job of recovering and getting 10 yards on his return, but you cannot put the ball on the ground on returns (or ever, really).
- Jack Cochrane has notched an assisted tackle on kickoff coverage for three straight weeks. He’s done a good job there and on punt coverage.
