JD_KaPow
jimnabby
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- Reaction score
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Such a pleasure to have nice things to say about special teams. A look at the five phases:
Kickoffs: A+
With 17 touchbacks out of 42 kickoffs, Buehler leads the leage in total touchbacks and touchback percentage (40.5%).
Punts: A+
We're 6th in the league in net yards per punt. More impressive, we've dropped 17 of our 30 punts inside the opponent's 20, leading the league with a 57% clip.
As a result of our punt and kick coverage teams, we're 7th in the league in opponent's starting field position (the 26.7 yard line). Compare to 2008, when we were 29th (32.5).
FG/XP: B
Folk's 80% success rate on FGs is middle of the pack. All his misses are from 40-49 yards out - he's made his only 50+ yard attempt. He's not the machine he was last year (he's already missed more FGs than all last season), but he's doing ok.
Punt Returns: B-
Yes, I know Dallas leads the league with 2 punt returns for TDs, and that (mostly thanks to those TDs) we're 2nd in the league in avg return yards. Compare to last year: 30th in the league in avg return yards, no TDs. However, we can't ignore the fact that Cowboy punt returners have muffed/fumbled 5 punts in 7 games, and lost 2 of those. That's just awful. The arrow's trending up in a big way in this category, but there's still work to do.
Kick Returns: D
The only poor area so far, and the only one with no noticeable improvement over last year. We're 20th in the league with a 22.1 kickoff return average. We haven't had a 40 yard return yet - our long of 38 beats only Tennessee. Add a fumbled kickoff (we maintained possession), and there's not much to cheer about.
The Cowboys are 28th in the league in starting field position, thanks to generally poor returns (I guess the TD returns don't help this stat, which is a little misleading) and their usual lack of takeaways.
Kickoffs: A+
With 17 touchbacks out of 42 kickoffs, Buehler leads the leage in total touchbacks and touchback percentage (40.5%).
Punts: A+
We're 6th in the league in net yards per punt. More impressive, we've dropped 17 of our 30 punts inside the opponent's 20, leading the league with a 57% clip.
As a result of our punt and kick coverage teams, we're 7th in the league in opponent's starting field position (the 26.7 yard line). Compare to 2008, when we were 29th (32.5).
FG/XP: B
Folk's 80% success rate on FGs is middle of the pack. All his misses are from 40-49 yards out - he's made his only 50+ yard attempt. He's not the machine he was last year (he's already missed more FGs than all last season), but he's doing ok.
Punt Returns: B-
Yes, I know Dallas leads the league with 2 punt returns for TDs, and that (mostly thanks to those TDs) we're 2nd in the league in avg return yards. Compare to last year: 30th in the league in avg return yards, no TDs. However, we can't ignore the fact that Cowboy punt returners have muffed/fumbled 5 punts in 7 games, and lost 2 of those. That's just awful. The arrow's trending up in a big way in this category, but there's still work to do.
Kick Returns: D
The only poor area so far, and the only one with no noticeable improvement over last year. We're 20th in the league with a 22.1 kickoff return average. We haven't had a 40 yard return yet - our long of 38 beats only Tennessee. Add a fumbled kickoff (we maintained possession), and there's not much to cheer about.
The Cowboys are 28th in the league in starting field position, thanks to generally poor returns (I guess the TD returns don't help this stat, which is a little misleading) and their usual lack of takeaways.
