RICK GOSSELIN’S 2017 NFL SPECIAL TEAMS RANKINGS

Rick Gosselin’s 2017 NFL special teams rankings

Rick Gosselin’s 2017 NFL special teams rankings
Rick Gosselin Rick Gosselin 3 hours ago 480 Views
John Fassel photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Rams

The Rams weren’t getting it done in their first season back in Los Angeles in 2016, so management did away with head coach Jeff Fisher and his staff.

But not all of his staff.

The Rams brought in Sean McVay as head coach to change the direction of the NFL’s worst offense. McVay hired Wade Phillips to transform the 4-3 defense of Fisher into a 3-4 scheme with some teeth in the pass rush. But the Rams elected to stand pat on special teams, keeping John Fassel as the kicking game coordinator.

Plenty went wrong for the Fisher Rams in 2016 on the way to a 4-12 finish. But special teams was not a part of the problem – and McVay clearly saw the kicking game as a part of his solution. The Rams finished fourth in the NFL in special teams in 2016, and the decision to keep Fassel on staff paid immediate and immense dividends.

Fassel’s special teams played a huge role in the dramatic turnaround by Los Angeles – the first winning season and playoff berth by the Rams since 2004 and their first NFC West title since 2003. Fassel coached a special-teams effort for the ages, with his Rams finishing first in the NFL special teams rankings compiled annually by Rick Gosselin the last 39 years.

Here’s the formula for the rankings: The league’s 32 teams are ranked in 22 kicking game categories and assigned points according to their standing – one for best, 32 for worst. In the 14 years the ranking has expanded to include 22 categories, no team had ever amassed fewer than 200 total points.

Until the 2017 Rams.

The Rams finished first with 196.5 points for a 30-point edge over the runnerup Kansas City Chiefs. Rounding out the Top 5 were the AFC-champion New England Patriots at 231.5 points, the Baltimore Ravens at 233 and the Dallas Cowboys at 250.5 points.

How dominant were the Rams? All four of their specialists were selected for the Pro Bowl – kicker Greg Zuerlein, punter Johnny Hekker, return specialist Pharoh Cooper and deep snapper Jake McQuaide.

The Rams finished first in six of the categories and runnerup in five others. The Rams had three other Top-5 finishes and four more Top-10 finishes. So the Rams were a Top-10 finisher in 18 of the 22 categories in these special-teams rankings. That’s dominance.

“It was a team effort by guys respecting and trusting each other and wanting to do it together,” Fassel said. “It was fun to be in the meetings Monday through Saturday because that’s where you build your production and confidence on game day. The attentiveness and the work ethic showed up all season really without any let down. And we stayed healthy, which was critical. It just came down to a lot of guys doing their jobs and respecting the work of their teammates and believing in each other.”

Fassel also credited the success of his special teams to the the emphasis placed on the kicking game by the youngest head coach in NFL history, the 31-year-old McVay.

“When I had my exit meeting at the end of the season, I commended Sean, as an offensive guy, for having that kind of respect for special teams as far as roster decisions,” Fassel said, “Not only who makes the team but who dresses on game days. He had a huge amount of respect for that aspect of the game.

“I told him a critical factor for success on special teams is having the right fits in dressing (the) 43, 44, 45 and 46 (players on game day) and having them as your special teams go-to guys. He really did take all those things into consideration. He let us know early in the week, `These guys are going to dress. Put your plan together and have some fun.’ To have that kind of appreciation for the big picture was pretty amazing (for such a young coach). It was a huge factor in our success.”

Zuerlein led the NFL in scoring with 158 points despite spending the final two games of the season on injured reserve with a back injury. He kicked an NFL runnerup 38 field goals, including a pair of 56-yarders.

Hekker finished second in the NFL with a net punting average of 44.3 yards. Thirty of his punts pinned the opposition inside the 20.

Cooper averaged 27.4 yards on kickoffs with a 103-yard touchdown against Jacksonville. He also led the NFL in punt returns with a 12.5-yard average.

The Rams blocked a league-high five kicks. There were only 11 punts blocked league-wide this season, and the Rams had three of them. Corey Littleton was the only player in the NFL to block two punts.

The Buffalo Bills charted the best single-season improvement under new head coach Sean McDermott, a leap of 17 spots from 24th in 2016 to seventh in 2017. The signing of free-agent kicker Stephen Hauschka paid dividends for the Bills. He kicked 29 of 33 field goals, including a league-high seven from 50 yards or more.

The 2017 runner-up Chiefs were particularly strong in the kicking game, leading the NFL with 41 field goals and becoming one of only seven teams not to miss a conversion kick. The Patriots, with Pro Bowl special teams ace Matthew Slater, were particularly strong in coverage, finishing third in the NFL in kickoff coverage (18.8 yards) and fourth in punt coverage (4.56 yards).

Here’s a breakdown of the 22 categories:

2017 NFL SPECIAL TEAMS RANKINGS

1. LA Rams 196.5
2. Kansas City 229.5
3. New England 231.5
4. Baltimore 233
5. Dallas 250.5
6. Detroit 274
7. Buffalo 309.5
Oakland 309.5
9. Indianapolis 310
10. Carolina 324
11. Miami 336
12. Seattle 336.5
13. Philadelphia 346.5
14. New Orleans 349.5
15. San Francisco 363
16. Green Bay 363.5
17. Pittsburgh 370.5
18. Tennessee 372.5
19. Washington 387.5
20. NY Jets 396.5
21. Tampa Bay 409.5
22. Atlanta 415
23. Minnesota 421
24. Cincinnati 421.5
Jacksonville 421.5
26. Houston 425
27. Chicago 447
Cleveland 447
29. LA Chargers 461.5
30. Arizona 471.5
31. Denver 472
32. NY Giants 514

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KICKOFF RETURNS
1. Baltimore 27.5 yards
2. LA Rams 25.0
3. Dallas 24.8
4. Minnesota 24.7
5. Seattle 23.3
Worst: Detroit 18.2 yards

PUNT RETURNS
1. Detroit 14.0 yards
2. Green Bay 10.7
3. Chicago 10.5
4. LA Rams 10.1
5. Baltimore 10.0
Worst: NY Jets 4.5 yards

KICKOFF COVERAGE
1. Baltimore 18.63 yards
2. Washington 18.67
3. New England 18.87
4. Indianapolis 19.1
5. Kansas City 19.4
Worst: Atlanta 26.2 yards

PUNT COVERAGE
1. Dallas 4.17 yards
2. San Francisco 4.18
3. Indianapolis 4.2
4. New England 4.5
5. Buffalo 5.5
Worst: Houston 12.4 yards

KICKOFF STARTING POINT
1. Baltimore 27.8-yard line
2. LA Rams 27.1
3. Seattle 26.8
4. New England 26.2
5. Oakland 25.8
Worst: LA Chargers 22.9-yard line

OPPONENT STARTING POINT
1. Miami 23.0-yard line
2. Detroit 23.1
3. New England 23.3
4. Dallas 23.6
5. Washington 23.7
Worst: Cleveland 26.5-yard line

PUNTING
1. Tennessee 49.7 yards
2. Houston 49.0
3. LA Chargers 48.1
4. LA Rams 47.9
5. Oakland 47.3
Worst: Minnesota 42.16 yards

NET PUNTING
1. Tennessee 44.5 yards
2. LA Rams 44.3
3. Oakland 42.68
4. Indianapolis 42.63
5. Carolina 42.4
Worst: NY Giants 36.7 yards

INSIDE THE 20 PUNTS
1. Baltimore 40
2. Dallas 34
3. NY Jets 33
4. Washington 33
5. Cincinnati 32
Houston 32
Worst: (tie) Green Bay, NY Giants 19

OPPONENT PUNTING
1. Kansas City 42.6 yards
2. Green Bay 43.04
3. Buffalo 43.06
4. Washington 44.2
5. Oakland 44.3
Worst: Tennessee 48.2 yards

OPPONENT NET PUNTING
1. Detroit 37.1 yards
2. LA Rams 37.3
3. Kansas City 37.6
4. Buffalo 38.0
5. Green Bay 38.1
Worst: Houston 42.8 yards

FIELD GOALS
1. Kansas City 41
2. LA Rams 40
3. San Francisco 39
4. New England 37
5. Pittsburgh 35
6. Tennessee 35
Worst: (tie) Cleveland, Green Bay 15

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
1. Carolina 96.6 percent
2. San Francisco 95.1
3. LA Rams 93.0
4. New England 92.5
5. Pittsburgh 92.1
Worst: LA Chargers 66.6 percent

OPPPONENT GIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE
1. LA Rams 67.6 percent
2. New England 70.9
3. NY Jets 72.4
4. Dallas 76.0
5. Philadelphia 76.9
Worst: Houston 94.3 percent

EXTRA POINT PERCENTAGE
6 Teams tied at 100 percent (Atlanta, Baltimore, Buffalo, Denver, Kansas City, NY Jets)
Worst: NY Giants 86.9 percent

POINTS SCORED
1. Chicago 18 points
2. LA Rams 18
3. Jacksonville 14
(6 teams tied with 12 points: Baltimore, Carolina, Detroit, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay)
Worst: 17 teams tied with 0 points

POINTS ALLOWED
15 teams tied with 0 points: Atlanta, Baltimore, Buffalo, Carolina, Dallas, Detroit, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Kansas City, LA Rams, New England, Oakland, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Tennessee
Worst: Tampa Bay 18 points

BLOCKED KICKS
1. LA Rams 5
2. Philadelphia 5
6 teams with 3 blocked kicks: Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Miami, New England, Tampa Bay
Worst: 8 teams tied with 0 blocked kicks: Arizona, Atlanta, Buffalo, Houston, Minnesota, NY Jets, San Francisco, Tennessee

OPPONENT BLOCKED KICKS
9 teams tied with 0 blocked kicks: Buffalo, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, LA Rams, Miami, New England, Seattle
Worst: NY Giants 6 blocked kicks

TAKEAWAYS
1. Tampa Bay 4
2. Dallas 3
3. Seattle 3
4 teams tied with 2 takeaways: Indianapolis, Kansas City, Oakland, San Francisco
Worst: 11 teams tied with 0 takeaways: Baltimore, Carolina, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, LA Chargers, Miami, NY Giants, NY Jets, Pittsburgh, Washington

GIVEAWAYS
13 teams tied with 0 giveaways: Arizona, Baltimore, Buffalo, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, LA Chargers, Minnesota, New England, NY Giants, Seattle, Tampa Bay
Worst: (tie) LA Rams & Washington 4 apiece

PENALTIES
1. Minnesota 11 penalties, 98 yards
2. Philadelphia 12, 98
3. NY Jets 12, 117
4. Indianapolis 13, 121
5. NY Giants 14, 104
Worst: Jacksonville 26 penalties, 203 yards