The Anatomy of a Blocked Punt

[IdiotKicker]

http://central.sonsofsamhorn.net/nfl/the-anatomy-of-a-blocked-punt/
 

 
Blocked punts are among the rarest plays in the NFL, with only 12 occurring league-wide in  2013. However, opening weekend this year saw three punts blocked, leading many to wonder whether it was just an aberration and a quirk of the sport, or the sign of a trend spawned by any changes in the game.
 
In fact, there were no major offseason rule alterations that would lead to an adjustment in punt-blocking strategy. This suggests it was simply an odd early-season cluster of blocks, and that the collective outcomes of punt attempts will likely regress to the mean over the course of the year. A video review of one of these plays readily reveals the culprit as poor punt team execution rather than any new scheme employed by their opponent.

 

[IdiotKicker]

There were also 3 more punts blocked in week 2, which now brings us up to 6 blocks total so far for the year.  If this keeps up, it is going to be triple the number that we saw in 2013, and we are also seeing approximately 10% less punts per game right now than in 2013, which means that the punt block rate so far has gone from 0.5% last year to 2.2% this year.  I'm going to have to go through more tape to see if there is anything notable happening in these other cases, but it may just be early season "sorting out" on special teams.

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

There were also 3 more punts blocked in week 2, which now brings us up to 6 blocks total so far for the year.  If this keeps up, it is going to be triple the number that we saw in 2013, and we are also seeing approximately 10% less punts per game right now than in 2013, which means that the punt block rate so far has gone from 0.5% last year to 2.2% this year.  I'm going to have to go through more tape to see if there is anything notable happening in these other cases, but it may just be early season "sorting out" on special teams.

 
Any idea how many of the blocked punts last year came early in the year as teams sorted out their special teams issues? I'd be curious to see if block rates go down as the season progresses.

 

[IdiotKicker]

 
Any idea how many of the blocked punts last year came early in the year as teams sorted out their special teams issues? I'd be curious to see if block rates go down as the season progresses.

 
Last year we had two in week 1, and one more in week 2.  Week 1 is always a bit of a mess, because you have units with a lot of annual turnover that are trying to figure out what to do.  The fact that we had three more in week 2 this year is very interesting to me, and something I'll have to watch on the tape to see exactly what was happening.  Did anyone get a chance to see any of the other games this weekend that had blocks in them?

 

[Super Nomario]

It looks like there were 3 punts blocked in the first two weeks in 2013, 6 in 2012's first two weeks, just 1 in 2011.

 

[IdiotKicker]

It looks like there were 3 punts blocked in the first two weeks in 2013, 6 in 2012's first two weeks, just 1 in 2011.

 
I take the 2012 data with a bit of a grain of salt since the change was made after the season to prevent players from lining up over the long snapper.  This affects a team's ability to generate pressure through the A-gaps, as you can't turn and manipulate the long snapper as easily from where you have to line up now.

 

[SeoulSoxFan]

I really enjoyed (umm, well not "enjoy") reading the article Chuck, and would love to see a follow-up on Jones' punt block. Looked like it was more of an athletic play on his part rather an a series of screw-ups (Nink + Ebner) for the Pats. 

 

[bradmahn]

Great work, Chuck!
 
I wonder how long Aiken will be on the team when his mistakes are thinning the margin for error.

 

[IdiotKicker]

Great work, Chuck!
 
I wonder how long Aiken will be on the team when his mistakes are thinning the margin for error.

 
This is a major question as well, and something that was unexpected heading into the year.  Coaches typically have very little tolerance for mistakes by long snappers, and if this continues to be a problem, you will absolutely see Aiken gone before the end of this year.

 

[Super Nomario]

 
This is a major question as well, and something that was unexpected heading into the year.  Coaches typically have very little tolerance for mistakes by long snappers, and if this continues to be a problem, you will absolutely see Aiken gone before the end of this year.

Belichick seemed kinda down on Aiken even before this year's yips - he had Charley Hughlett in during camp last year, and Tyler Ott in camp this year, then the whole releasing-Aiken-and-re-signing-him saga. BB seems to want to upgrade the spot but hasn't found anyone better.