Thursday, February 2, 2012

Super Bowl XLVI Preview - Special Teams

New England PatriotsNY Giants

New England - Stephen Gostkowski, Zoltan Mesko, Danny Woodhead, Julian Edelman
NY Giants - Lawrence Tynes, Steve Weatherford, Will Blackmon

It is very possible that Special Teams will play a vital role in this game. Look at the NFC Championship. Special Teams blunders are exactly what got the Giants to the Super Bowl. The Ravens and 49ers both found out the hard way that Special Teams decides close ball games. This game appears like it will be close.

New England was solid in kick coverage this season, ranking 6th overall. Bill Belechick's teams are usually very disciplined and this one is no different. Their return game ranked in the bottom half of the NFL, but that doesn't mean that Danny Woodhead or Julian Edelman can;t take one to the house. Their kicking specialists have been solid but seldom used. Field Goals and punts are not in the vocabulary of the Patriots. Though when forced to use these two areas of the game, New England is solid there as well. Stephen Gostkowski is no Adam Vinatieri, but he is capable of making a big kick if needed.

New York was solid in Special Teams as well. They were opposite of New England though. The G-Men ranked 7th in return yards and 16th in return coverage. Will Blackmon has been a very good return man. Blackmon has not returned a TD as a member of the Giants, but has 4 in his career. Lawrence Tynes kicked the Giants into the Super Bowl for the 2nd time in 5 seasons. So we know he can make a pressure kick when called upon.

It could be a big play in Special Teams that decides this game. Both teams are solid in this area, if not spectacular. They are very evenly matched in this aspect of the game. I will give a slight edge to the Giants. I don't expect either team to come up with huge returns. I ultimately trust Lawrence Tynes to make a timely kick more than I do Stephen Gostkowski.

Advantage - NY Giants

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