Green Bay - Mason Crosby, Tim Masthay, Sam Shields, Tramon Williams
Pittsburgh - Shaun Suisham, Jeremy Kapinos, Antonio Brown
Special Teams is a very important aspect in every game. Particularly close games. As we have taken a look at each position, it appears that this game is headed towards being close. Which means that special teams should play a role in the outcome. Super Bowl XLV could be decided by field position. And what dictates field position more than special teams?
The downfall of the Packers could be a poor return game and poor kick coverage. Green Bay ranked 26th in kick return average and 22nd in punt return average. They ranked 13th in kickoff coverage and 24th in punt coverage. In only one area did they finish in the top half of the league. However, when your punter is as masterful as Tim Masthay was in the NFC Championship, you don't need coverage. Masthay did not allow Devin Hester a chance to beat them as he pinned Chicago inside their own 20 on five of his eight punts. The Steelers return game is not nearly as lethal, but the Packers could use a similar performance from their punter this week. If the game does come down to a field goal, Mason Crosby has a booming leg. His accuracy was a bit off this year, missing 6 field goals, but Mike McCarthy has plenty of confidence in him to kick under pressure.
Pittsburgh's special teams are not amazing either. They were 13th in kick return average and dead last in punt return average. In coverage, the Steelers ranked 5th against kickoff returns and 18th against punt returns. These aren't the same players that were expected to lead the charge at the beginning of the season. After cutting Jeff Reed in midseason, Pittsburgh signed journeymen Shaun Suisham. Despite being wildly erratic throughout his career, Suisham made 14 of 15 field goal attempts during the regular season. He has never kicked under playoff pressure and missed one against Baltimore int he Divisional round. Punter Jeremy Kapinos is 7 yards worse in net punting than Daniel Sepulveda was when healthy. Antonio Brown has injected some life into the return game, but he doesn't strike too much fear into opponents.
It could be a special teams lapse that sways this game one way or another. Neither one of these teams are tremendous in this aspect of the game. This is yet another position that Green Bay and Pittsburgh are very evenly matched. I will give Green Bay a slight edge. I don't expect either team to come up with huge returns. I trust the combination of Mason Crosby and Tim Masthay more than that of Shaun Suisham and Jeremy Kapinos.
Advantage - Green Bay
No comments:
Post a Comment