Gosselin's 2016 special teams rankings

Rick Gosselin’s 2016 special teams rankings

http://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2017/02/15/rick-gosselins-2016-nfl-special-teams-rankings-see-high-cowboys-jumped-nfc-east-teams-1-league

The NFL’s 32 teams are ranked in 22 kicking-game categories annually by The Dallas Morning News with points assigned in each category according to their standing (one for the best through 32 for the worst).

Here are the composite standings:

Ranking Team Composite score
1 Philadelphia 226.5
2 Detroit 253.5
3 Kansas City 264.5
4 Los Angeles 270.5
5 Baltimore 279.5
6 New England 287.5
7 Miami 288
8 Indianapolis 294
9 Oakland 302
10 Seattle 304.5
11 Cowboys 323.5
12 Tampa Bay 337
13 Cincinnati 339.5
14 Atlanta 350.5
15 Minnesota 351
16 San Francisco 353.5
17 Washington 356
18 NY Giants 361
19 Denver 366.5
20 Pittsburgh 394.5
21 Carolina 399
22 Tennessee 409
23 Houston 412.5
24 Buffalo 419.5
25 New Orleans 422.5
26 Cleveland 432
27 Chicago 444.5
28 Jacksonville 451
29 Green Bay 456.5
30 NY Jets 467
31 Arizona 485.5
32 San Diego 514

Note: Rams are ranked best in net punting (46.0 yards), punts inside the 20 (51),and punt coverage (4.3 yards).

The election of placekicker Morten Andersen to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2017 was a monumental achievement for NFL special teams.
Football coaches will all tell you that special teams are a third of the game, but that mantra has never sold in Canton. Andersen became only the third pure special-teamer elected to the Hall of Fame, joining kicker Jan Stenerud and punter Ray Guy.
Andersen played more games and scored more points than any player in NFL history and was a rare two-time NFL all-decade selection (1980s and 1990s), yet it still took him five years and four trips to the finals to claim a bust. Guy, the only punter enshrined, had to wait 23 years for his bust and needed his candidacy resurrected by the Hall’s senior committee.
Quietly, though, special-teamers of today underscored their value both on the game and on the field this season. Three of the NFL’s Top 11 defenses qualified for the playoffs this past season. Six of the Top 11 offenses qualified for the playoffs. But seven of top 11 special teams qualified, including the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots and division champs Dallas, Kansas City and Seattle.
The Patriots finished sixth in special teams according to rankings compiled annually by The Dallas Morning News. The Chiefs finished third, the Seahawks 10th and the Cowboys 11th. In addition, wild-card qualifiers Detroit finished second, Miami seventh and Oakland ninth.

The league’s 32 teams are ranked in 22 categories and assigned points according to their standing – one for best, 32 for worst. The Philadelphia Eagles fielded the NFL’s best special teams with a composite score of 226.5. The Eagles have now finished first in special teams in two of the last three seasons.
Kansas City was the best example of the impact of the kicking game on a team’s standing. The Chiefs finished 20th in the NFL in offense and 24th in defense but still won the AFC West with a 12-4 record thanks in large part to their special teams.
The Chiefs finished first in the NFL in punt returns and ninth in kickoff returns. They also finished second in the league in punts inside the 20 – three key elements of the kicking game that gave the Chiefs an edge in the weekly battle for field position.
More importantly, Kansas City finished first in special-teams scoring with 30 points on five touchdowns, including a 55-yard run on a fake punt that helped the Chiefs topple the NFC champion Falcons, 29-28. Kansas City also led the NFL in takeaways on special teams with four, recovering two fumbled punts and two fumbled kickoffs. Demetrius Harris scooped up one of those fumbles and returned it 27 yards for a KC touchdown in 24-3 romp over the New York Jets.
The Cowboys moved up from 15th to 11th in special teams this season despite struggling in all aspects of the return game. They finished 23rd in both kickoff and punt returns, 21st in kickoff coverage and 18th in punt coverage.
On the positive side of the ledger, the Cowboys were one of only a dozen teams that did not commit any turnovers on special teams and one of only 10 that did not allow any points in the kicking game. They also were one of only five teams that converted 100 percent of their extra-point kicks.