What the heck is going on with Special Teams?

[Boyzmamacita]

I'm ecstatic about the win and glad we overcame some major blunders, but what the heck is going on with the special teams? A blocked punt led directly to a touchdown. A muffed punt led indirectly to a touchdown. A short punt led indirectly to a FG. That is 17 points for Seattle. They only scored 23. Our defense picked a great day to hold the opponent to 2 FGs (I don't blame them for the aforementioned scores). As great as the defense played, it concerns me that the special teams is making so many gaffes week after week. Blocks in the back, holding, fumbles, blocked kicks, etc. We need to clean it up. We should've won this game by multiple scores, but we keep shooting ourselves in the foot. I know the team is young. I'd just hate to see us fall short because of sloppiness.

 

[bark]

D Harris was channeling his inner Felix jones yesterday. Tough day at the office

 

[DallasEast]

Hopefully, Dwayne Harris will shore up the dropsies on receiving punts. That is just a matter of concentration but poor concentration puts the team in really bad situations. The blocked punt was excellent special teams play on Seattle's part in my opinion. The Seahawks player saw an opening, pulled off the gunner and we did not adjust accordingly.

 

[John813]

Props to the guys on offense and defense staying composed while the Special teams guys were making unforced mistakes.

Like Deion said, it's rare to see a team come back from a blocked punt for a TD. Especially in an emotionally filled stadium in Seattle.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

Hopefully, Dwayne Harris will shore up the dropsies on receiving punts. That is just a matter of concentration but poor concentration puts the team in really bad situations. The blocked punt was excellent special teams play on Seattle's part in my opinion. The Seahawks player saw an opening, pulled off the gunner and we did not adjust accordingly.

Speaking of concentration, Harris took his eye off the ball on another fair catch later in the game. Fortunately he didn't fumble that time, but he played it basically the same. We need him to be the weapon on returns that we know he can be.

 

[Bullflop]

Former Cowboys teams came unraveled whenever our special teams made catastrophic blunders like the ones we saw versus Seattle. It's a credit to this team that they managed to keep truckin' and not lose their composure. It's becoming increasingly clearer with each passing week that this team is mentally tough. That's just one of the necessary ingredients sorely needed to qualify as a playoff contender. It's so good to see we're getting there.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

We've got to stop the mistakes...cant have those during the superbowl

 

[Hoov]

There was a kickoff return where he came racing out of the end zone and the three guys supposed to make up the wedge were standing still looking around. He had to slow down. The wedge never formed or did anything and Harris ran into a wall of Seattle ayers short of the 20.

The whole special teams unit was bad minus bailey.

They need some real work this week

 

[BotchedLobotomy]

5-1 with special teams play that can be fixed. Only thing that probably cant be fixed is our punter.

 

[Boyzmamacita]

5-1 with special teams play that can be fixed. Only thing that probably cant be fixed is our punter.

What's going on with him? He was never great, but he has been shaky lately.

 

[MissouriCowboy]

There has to be a punter somewhere Dallas can sign and be more productive.,

 

[MRV52]

On the block punt Seattle outsmarted the Cowboys. The Seattle player lined up outside then he slid down the line and rushed in untouched. Things like this can't happen again.

 

[reddyuta]

everything is fixable except Chris jones,that guy is just terrible and probably the worst punter in the league.

 

[cowboys1981]

I'm sure they're going to police that up this week and Harris has a big return against NY.

Despite the miscues on return squad, I give credit to our kickoff return guys who did a good job on Harvin.

 

[Tabascocat]

Harris needs to work on whether or not to take the ball out of the endzone or kneel it. Also needs to not fair-catch inside the 10. I swear his head isn't in the game sometimes.

 

[Mr Cowboy]

everything is fixable except Chris jones,that guy is just terrible and probably the worst punter in the league.

according to pre season reports, he is a left footed punter which supposedly makes it harder for punt returners to catch the ball, and more importantly; Baily trusts him as his holder.

I hope they can train someone else to be reliable holder next year and find a better punter.

 

[conner01]

On the block punt Seattle outsmarted the Cowboys. The Seattle player lined up outside then he slid down the line and rushed in untouched. Things like this can't happen again.

very true. that was just a great play by them. likley something they saw on film. the short punt may very well have been intentional because it prevented a return in a spot on the field hard to defend.
special teams as a whole was'nt bad yesterday. one of the best kick return guys in the nfl could'nt get to the 20 all day

 

[Yakuza Rich]

The punt block was a perfect play by Baldwin. He timed that perfectly. Incredibly hard to do it like he did it.

Harris has really bummed me out this year. He's gotten very sloppy with his technique. He was arguably the best punt returner in the league two years ago because his technique was excellent. I would have put Beasley in for punt returns since you're not going to get many yards against Seattle anyway.





YR

 

[Bullflop]

I'm ecstatic about the win and glad we overcame some major blunders, but what the heck is going on with the special teams? A blocked punt led directly to a touchdown. A muffed punt led indirectly to a touchdown. A short punt led indirectly to a FG. That is 17 points for Seattle. They only scored 23. Our defense picked a great day to hold the opponent to 2 FGs (I don't blame them for the aforementioned scores). As great as the defense played, it concerns me that the special teams is making so many gaffes week after week. Blocks in the back, holding, fumbles, blocked kicks, etc. We need to clean it up. We should've won this game by multiple scores, but we keep shooting ourselves in the foot. I know the team is young. I'd just hate to see us fall short because of sloppiness.

Something tells me the Boys will be serving extra time doing ST drills 'til they get it right. If that's an example of what's to be expected from our ST units going forward, then we're in a heap of trouble. I'd like to be a fly in the film room to hear what's likely to be said when the team reviews the ST play. You can bet a dollar to a doughnut there's be plenty for Garrett and the ST Coach to say to set them straight. Hopefully, they'll listen and work to straighten out their gaffs. That muffed punt by Harris could easily have dealt the team a fatal blow. If that's not bad enough, that was the 2nd time in 2 weeks it happened. Sure hope they can get that junk straightened out.

 

[BotchedLobotomy]

The punt block was a perfect play by Baldwin. He timed that perfectly. Incredibly hard to do it like he did it.

Harris has really bummed me out this year. He's gotten very sloppy with his technique. He was arguably the best punt returner in the league two years ago because his technique was excellent. I would have put Beasley in for punt returns since you're not going to get many yards against Seattle anyway.





YR

I would say based on the sideline reactions from the Seahawks, it was something they saw in film that they could exploit and it worked to perfection.