OVER THE NEXT week, we’ll be taking a closer look at both the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos and their strengths and weaknesses across offence, defence and special teams in the run up to Super Bowl 50.
Today, we open with the Denver Broncos special teams unit.
What they do well
Kick offs
Because of conditions at Mile High — the Broncos home field is 1,609m above sea level — field goal kicks tend to fly further and so Brandon McManus, the Broncos place kicker, is often asked to attempt shots from distance he wouldn’t be asked to make elsewhere.
For that reason, McManus is just 10 of 15 when shooting from 40 yards or further out. Inside that distance he’s a perfect 20/20.
Where McManus really comes into his own, however, is on kick offs with nearly 70% (69.9) resulting in touchbacks. As a result of this, only two teams (Baltimore and Indianapolis) gave up less than the measly 508 yards the Denver kick-off unit did this season. Indeed, the longest kick-off return allowed was just 38 yards, the best number in the NFL in 2015.
What they could do better
Punting
Denver and New England were the only teams to make the post-season who ranked in the bottom ten in the NFL when it comes to punt returns yardage allowed.
And it says something as to how average their punt team is that they allowed an average of 9.8 yards per punt over the course of the season according to ESPN, which shows there is definite scope for improvement. The San Diego Chargers, for example, allowed only 4.2 yards per return this year.
Some of this is on Britton Colquitt, the punter, who is the fifth worst in the league in terms of punt distance (43.6 yards) and some is on the coverage team who don’t get to the ball quickly enough. As you can see above against the Patriots, the Broncos were very lucky this punt was not returned for a touchdown.
What they need to avoid
Muffed kicks/punts
Denver’s kick and punt return team can get them in trouble. Not often, but in a close game it could be all the difference.
In the loss to Oakland earlier this season, the Broncos held a three-point lead in the fourth quarter but momentum swung in favour of the Raiders after Emmanuel Sanders muffed this punt under no pressure at all.
Four plays later and the Raiders took the lead and went on to win the game. Sanders, as wide receiver, played a crucial role in the defeat to the Patriots but he’ll have to cut out these sort of errors against the Panthers if they’re to lift the Vince Lombardi trophy.
We’ll look at the Panthers special teams unit tomorrow.
