Special Teams blog

April 22, 2020

On 9/3/2018 at 12:30 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Jets game. Mostly just the data.

Cameron Johnston punted five times with an average of about 55.4 yards and 4.71 hangtime. Throughout the preseason, his punts averaged about 50.0 yards and 4.44 hangtime. I have no issues with that at all.

Jake Elliott kicked off three times, with an average of about 69.0 yards and 4.20 hangtime. His preseason average was about 69.4 yards and 4.25 hangtime. Sturgis was actually slightly better (69.8/4.30) last preseason. Very close though. Still, I think Sturgis was a better kickoff guy and probably the best kickoff kicker the Eagles have ever had. Elliott is definitely good on kickoffs though. He's also a lot better on onside kicks than Sturgis. Hopefully that will never be needed.

Elliott made a 55-yard field goal (55 yards is precisely the distance where it's a 50/50 coin flip) and a 33-yard extra point. Including PATs, he only attempted six kicks all preseason, making just four. The expectation would have been roughly 5.0 made. So he came up one kick short. Mildly concerning.

For what it's worth, I thought DeAndre Carter showed poor judgment on the final(?) Jets punt by not fair catching it. He was in perfect position to do so, yet let it hit the ground. The bounce didn't really affect anything, so he was fortunate. But you gotta catch punts when they're catchable. That's Punt Return 101 stuff right there.

Looking forward to the real games and tracking the numbers that really matter.

April 22, 2020

On 9/12/2018 at 5:18 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Time for another year of this. Same as always, only this time as defending Super Bowl Champions!

Falcons game. Cameron Johnston punted eight times, although only six of them were official punts. On one "non punt" he was roughed. On the other, there were offsetting penalties which negated the play. For statistical purposes, I've included them. Because I can. And because they were live plays at the time. His average distance, as measured from the line of scrimmage to where the ball was caught, or struck the ground, or was marked out of bounds on the fly by the official (in other words, a true distance whereby bounces and rolls don't count) was about 48.6 yards. His average hangtime was 4.70 seconds. Six of the eight had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Only two of the eight were hit outside the numbers. In other words, six of the eight went to the middle of the field. There was obviously a strategy involved there. I also timed Johnston's touch to toe times and was surprised at how good they were. Consistently right around 1.2 seconds, sometimes a little quicker than that. In fact, on the punt where he was roughed, he REALLY sped things up (about 1.1 seconds) just to avoid any catastrophic blocked punt in the final seconds of the half. Donnie Jones did something similar in the Rams game last year on his final punt. Just field the snap and get rid of the ball as quickly as possible.

Matt Bosher punted six times for the Falcons. He averaged about 46.3 yards with 4.59 seconds. Four of the six had at least 4.5 second hangtime. And four of the six were hit outside the numbers. The theoretical win goes to Johnston. Better distance by about two yards and about a tenth of a second more hangtime.

Bosher is an interesting punter. I believe I mentioned this last year prior to the playoff game. He's always looked to me like a guy you can block punts off of. His touch to toe is a little slow (he was around the 1.35 second mark) and he takes longer strides before unloading, which means the target point to attack is closer to the line of scrimmage. At any rate, it looked like the Eagles tried to get there a few times and actually came close a couple of times.

New kickoff rules this year. Jake Elliott kicked off four times for the Eagles with an average distance of about 70.5 yards and 4.14 hangtime. Matt Bosher also handled kickoff chores for the Falcons. He averaged about 68.0 yards and 3.87 hangtime. So again, the Eagles were the better team in this special teams phase, based solely on how far and how high the kicks were struck.

Elliott made his only field goal from 26 yards. That's about a 95% expectancy distance, meaning one out of twenty attempts from there will fail. He came pretty close to having it be that one, but he did sneak it in. A little too close for comfort though. His Elo rating improved to 2264, which now ranks fourteenth in the entire league. The Elo rating of the theoretical kicker known as "Eagles Opponent" improved to 2239, which would rank twentieth in the league. The league average is at 2256. The standard is 2200. (That's where the average was about ten to fifteen years ago but kickers have improved a lot since then.) The Top Five kickers in the league are Tucker (2424), Gould (2364), Bryant (2357), Gostkowski (2324), and Zuerlein (2319). The Bottom Five kickers are Hopkins (2206), Sanders (2203), Maher (2184), Gonzalez (2170), and Rosas (2148). Interestingly, three of those five play for division rivals.

Other stuff:

* Elliott came dangerously close to kicking the ball out of bounds on the opening kickoff. The ball nearly went out at around the one yard line but, according to the official who was standing there, took an Eagles bounce into the endzone instead. Sigh of relief right there.

* D.J. Alexander and Kamu Grugier-Hill combined on one punt tackle. Good play by both of them.

* The Falcons were using a brand new snapper and it had an effect on their place kicks. His snaps were kinda low. This probably impacted the missed PAT that Bryant had.

* The Eagles had a lot of bad "hidden yardage" plays on special teams. Shelton Gibson got nailed for running down the sidelines on a punt, which cost the team fifteen yards. When you're covering a kick and you get knocked out of bounds, you have to try to get back into the field of play right away. You can't simply run down the white sideline stripe as though it's your own personal sprint lane. Gibson also made a boneheaded play on a kickoff return, coming out of the endzone and dancing around and getting only to the ten yard line. That was another fifteen yard mistake. And Nathan Gerry was nailed for a personal foul on a touchback on a kickoff, again costing the Eagles fifteen yards. Those three plays cost the Eagles about 45 yards of field position. That's a lot.

* The worst play of the night was when Tre Sullivan kicked a live ball which led to a turnover. Yes, he was sort of dragged into the ball by a Falcons player, but he had no business engaging defenders when he was that close to a live ball. Really dumb. Incidentally, I kinda think that Darren Sproles could have saved a lot of trouble by coming up to fair catch that ball. That also happened on a previous Falcons punt. Both instances were probably borderline though. Still, I'd like my returner to catch a ball rather than have it hit the ground and force his teammates to dodge it.

* The Eagles were victims of poor officiating on one punt. The officials called offsetting penalties, yet it was clear that both infractions were made by Falcons players for holding. Shelton Gibson on one side and Corey Clement on the other were held, yet somehow Clement was called for the penalty. Ended up costing the Eagles about fifteen yards of field position (more hidden yardage!) since the ensuing Johnston punt wasn't as good as the first.

* We're 1-0! And we're still Super Bowl champions!

April 22, 2020

On 9/20/2018 at 2:22 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Bucs game. Special thanks to @justrelax for helping me out with some clockings I couldn't get because Fox decided to do an awful job broadcasting special teams plays.

Cameron Johnston punted five times for the Eagles with an average "true distance" of about 55.6 yards with about 4.40 hangtime. Three of the five punts had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds, and two of the five were hit outside the numbers. Bryan Anger punted six times for the Bucs with an average of about 43.5 yards and 4.48 hangtime. Three of the six had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Three of the six were hit outside the numbers. Johnston gets the theoretical "win" putting his mark at 2-0 on the season.

Through two games, Johnston is averaging about 51.3 yards (bounces excluded) with 4.59 hangtime. About 69% have had at least 4.5 hangtime. Only 31% have been hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 44.9 yards with 4.54 hangtime. 58% have had at least 4.5 hangtime, and 58% were hit outside the numbers. So Johnston is getting about six more yards per punt with a little more height as well, though he's leaving the ball in the middle of the field a little more, probably by design. Johnston's get-off times were very good once again. Anger's were average-ish. Looks to me like "touch to toe" is not going to be a problem for Johnston.

Kickoffs. Jake Elliott kicked off four times with an average of about 71.3 yards and 4.22 hangtime. Chandler Catanzaro kicked off five time with an average of about 75.6 yards and 4.15 hangtime. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 70.9 yards (that's roughly six yards into the endzone on the fly) with 4.18 hangtime, while opponents are averaging about 72.2 (roughly seven yards into the endzone) with 4.03 hangtime. It's still really early in the season at this point to make any major judgments. But I think Elliott is absolutely fine on kickoffs, although I slightly prefer Caleb Sturgis in this phase.

On placekicks, the Eagles snap to foot times were normal. Roughly 1.25 seconds. The Bucs were a little slower. Roughly 1.35 seconds.

Elliott missed his only field goal attempt from 42 yards. That's about a 77% make distance. On the season, he's now 1-of-2 from distances where he would be expected to make roughly 1.73 of them. So he's minus .73, which means he's cost the team about 2.2 points. The average distance of his attempts is 34 yards, which is about a 91% make. At only 50%, he's well off the pace. But only two attempts.

Elliott's Elo rating dropped to 2244, which ranks 20th in the league. The league average is 2253. The rating of Eagles Opponent remains 2239, which would rank 21st. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2427), Gould (2371), Bryant (2360), Zuerlein (2319), and Hauschka (2316). The Bottom Five kickers are Fairbairn (2197), Maher (2190), Carlson (2155), Rosas (2155), and Gonzalez (2151). Carlson and Gonzalez were just released by their teams.

Other stuff:

* Clement had a very nice punt return negated by a block in the back penalty. Ugh.

* Clement made a tackle on the first Eagles punt of the game.

* Avonte Maddox made an excellent punt tackle.

* Kamu Grugier-Hill tackled DeSean Jackson on his punt return. Johnston had a different approach on that punt. Just a quick step and jab. Not his usual form. Very little leg extension. I suspect he was intentionally trying to line drive it but my guess is that he didn't really want to hit it to the middle of the field.

* Corey Graham made a tackle on a punt.

* Nelson Agholor scares me as a punt returner. He secured the ball cleanly but I thought he was a bit reckless coming up to field a punt and attempt a return rather than simply fair catch it.

* Kinda thought Clement could have done a better job of coming up to field punts rather than let them hit the ground. One of the ones he let hit actually took an Eagles bounce but that's not something you can count on. Better to fair catch the ones you can actually get to.

* As Elliott was lining up for his field goal attempt, I commented aloud, "If this kick goes the way this game has been going, he's going to miss it." I hated my premonition being right.

April 22, 2020

On 9/25/2018 at 8:55 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Colts game. Not one of their better efforts.

Cameron Johnston punted three times, averaging about 43.7 yards (true distance, not official NFL stats distance) and 3.98 hangtime. Only one of the three had at least 4.5 hangtime and only one (same one) was hit outside the numbers. Rigoberto Sanchez punted six times, though one was negated because of a penalty. His average was about 45.7 yards and 4.44 hangtime. Three of the six had at least 4.5 hangtime. None of the six were hit outside the numbers. The Colts pretty much just hit it right down the middle without much fear of a return threat. The better statistical game goes to the Colts, putting Johnston's mark at 2-1 on the season in his theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the opposing punter.

Through three games, Johnston is averaging about 49.9 yards and 4.47 hangtime, with 63% of his punts getting at least 4.5 hangtime and 31% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 45.2 yards and 4.50 hangtime, with 56% having at least 4.5 hangtime and 39% hit outside the numbers. So roughly the same height but the Eagles are getting nearly five more yards in the air.

Johnston's touch-to-toe times were roughly 1.20, which is absolutely fine. Good, even. The Colts were a little slower.

Kickoffs. Both teams kicked off five times. Jake Elliott averaged about 66.6 yards with 4.08 hangtime. Sanchez did the kicking for Indianapolis and averaged about 66.4 yards with 4.02 hangtime. Similar. Not as booming as the first couple games, perhaps because of the weather. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 69.2 yards with 4.14 hangtime, and opposing kickers are averaging about 70.1 yards with 4.03 hangtime. So slightly less distance for the Eagles but with better height.

Jake Elliott made two of three field goal attempts from distances where the expectancy would be to make about 2.36 of them. For the record, 55 yards is basically the distance where it becomes a 50-50 coin flip. Anything closer than 55 and the odds favor the kicker. On the season, Elliott has made 3 of 5 field goals from distances where he would be expected to make about 4.09 of them. So he's a negative 1.09, which means he's earned the Eagles about 3.3 less points than expected. His average distance attempt is 36 yards, where it's roughly an 86% expectancy. His Elo rating dropped to 2233, which now ranks 24th in the league. The rating of Eagles Opponent improved to 2244, which would rank 16th in the league. The current league average is now at 2257 (some low rated kickers were released a week ago and are no longer included, which explains why the average went up.) The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2418), Gould (2374), Bryant (2360), Hauschka (2323), and Zuerlein (2319). The Bottom Five kickers are Joseph (2208), Maher (2203), Sanders (2203), Ficken (2170), and Rosas (2165) -- basically the newbies who have been hovering around average and below through their relatively short careers.

The Eagles kicking times were good. Roughly low/mid 1.2 seconds from snap to foot. The Colts were a little slower on their attempts.

Other stuff:

* Not a good snap by Rick Lovato on the 55-yard attempt. Good job by Johnston to field the low snap and get it down. It could be a reason the kick kinda never had a chance. It was off target right off the foot. Incidentally, it was sort of comical the way the one corner of the stadium erupted in cheer as the kick crossed the end line. That section of the stadium had no perspective on whether the kick was straight or not. All they could judge was distance, and they cheered when the realized it was long enough. Funny but sad too. Oh, and I also agree with Pederson's decision to attempt that kick. It's roughly a coin flip and you get three points if you win the bet. Absolutely worth the risk, in my opinion.

* Still way too many penalties for the Eagles on special teams plays. It's getting to the point where it feels like a small miracle when there isn't a block in the back call somewhere.

* Corey Clement had a rough time fielding punts. He slightly bobbled the first one he caught, totally dropped the next one, and also muffed the final one. Yeah, the weather wasn't good but you can't be doing that. He (and the Eagles) were very lucky to come away unscathed on those plays. He also didn't look particularly elusive on his returns. Just not a good day for the punt return unit.

* It wasn't a good day for the kick return unit either. Wendell Smallwood returned two kicks and did next to nothing with them. The blocking wasn't too good either. Gibson and Aiken were the primary culprits, I thought.

* D.J. Alexander was flagged for running into the punter (valid call although it wasn't much) at a critical juncture. Fortunately for the Eagles, the five yards didn't quite give the Colts a first down and they re-punted after trying to get the Eagles to jump offsides.

April 22, 2020

On 10/3/2018 at 4:47 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Titans game. Not too many returns.

Cameron Johnston punted six times, with an average of about 49.0 yards and 4.36 hangtime. Two of the six had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Three (the last three) were hit outside the numbers. Unfortunately, three of his punts also bounded into the endzone for touchbacks. Brett Kern punted five times for the Titans, with an average of about 48.8 yards and 4.22 hangtime. Only one had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds, and four of the five were hit outside the numbers. The better statistical day goes to Johnston, putting his mark at 3-1 on the season in his theoretical battle with the opposing punter.

On the season, Johnston is averaging about 49.6 yards ("true yards" if you will) with 4.44 hangtime, while hitting the 4.5 mark about 55% of the time and hitting about 36% outside the numbers. Opponents are averaging about 46.0 yards with 4.44 hangtime, while hitting the 4.5 mark about 48% of the time and hitting about 48% outside the numbers. So Johnston is getting about three more yards per attempt but hitting a little more towards the middle of the field.

Kickoffs. Jake Elliott kicked off five times. His kickoff with seconds left in regulation was a low line drive which didn't qualify as a "legitimate" kickoff so it was excluded from the database. His four legit kicks averaged about 71.5 yards with 4.37 hangtime. Ryan Succop kicked off six times for the Titans, with an average of about 71.2 yards and 4.12 hangtime. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 69.8 yards with 4.19 hangtime. Opposing kickers are averaging about 70.5 yards and 4.05 hangtime. More distance for the other teams, more height for the Eagles. That's pretty much the norm the last few years.

Elliott made all three of his field goal attempts. The expectation based on the distances involved was about 2.7. On the season, he's now made six of eight from distances where the expectation would be about 6.81. So he's about -0.81 off the standard, meaning he's cost the team about 2.4 points in four games. His average attempt distance is 34.3 yards, from which he would be expected to make about .875 of them. His Elo rating improved to 2239, which is tied for 23rd in the league. The rating of "Eagles Opponent" is now at 2251, which would be tied for 18th in the league. The current league average is 2256. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2423...he's always first it seems), Gould (2375), Bryant (2368), Hauschka (2323), and Vinatieri (2323). The Bottom Five kickers are Joseph (2210), Sanders (2203), McCrane (2178), Rosas (2168), and Ficken (2151).

Other stuff:

* There were zero kickoff returns in this game. Every kick was a touchback.

* Three touchbacks are too many for Johnston. It's something he needs to work on. On the other hand, he's now had more punts of at least fifty yards (from the line of scrimmage to where the ball actually came down) than Donnie Jones had all last season, including the postseason. Johnston has had twelve whereas Jones only had ten. Significant upgrade.

* Tennessee's snapper looked good. Their touch-to-toe times were a little slower than the Eagles, however. Their snap-to-foot times on placekicks were also slower. It appears to me that the Eagles are consistently one of the faster teams on placekicks, and Johnston is definitely fast in his mechanics. So "we're fine there".

* Kamu Grugier-Hill made a tackle on a punt.

* Maddox, Reynolds, and Alexander combined to make a tackle on a punt.

* DeAndre Carter had a big punt return at a critical moment of the game. Not sure he's a long term solution, but I suspect he'll fill in there while Sproles continues to miss games with leg injuries. At any rate, it was nice to see some production in the return game since that's been pretty much MIA all season.

* Quick observation on Minnesota's Dan Bailey since they're the next team on the schedule. When he kicked for the Cowboys, his kickoffs were outstanding. When I watched him against the Rams last week, he didn't look like the same guy. It might explain why the Cowboys were willing to turn the page on him.

April 22, 2020

On 10/11/2018 at 4:14 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Vikings game.

Cameron Johnston punted four times with an average of about 42.0 yards and 3.76 hangtime. None of the punts had at least 4.5 hangtime. Two were hit outside the numbers. Matt Wile punted only twice, averaging about 33.5 yards (real distance, rolls excluded) and 3.84 hangtime. Neither had at least 4.5 hangtime. One was hit outside the numbers. Neither punter had a good statistical game, but the edge goes to Johnston, putting his record at 4-1 on the season in his theoretical battle with the opposing punter.

On the season, Johnston is averaging about 48.5 yards and 4.34 hangtime with 46% hitting the 4.5 second mark and 38% hitting outside the numbers. Opponents are averaging about 45.0 yards and 4.39 hangtime with 44% hitting the 4.5 second mark and 48% hitting outside the numbers. So, three and a half yards more per Eagles punt with slightly less hangtime and the ball tending more towards the middle of the field.

Kickoffs. Jake Elliott kicked off five times but the last was an onside attempt. His four real kickoffs averaged about 72.8 yards with 4.21 hangtime. Dan Bailey kicked off six times, including a squib at the end of the first half. His five real kickoffs averaged about 66.2 yards and 4.06 hangtime. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 70.3 yards and 4.20 hangtime vs 69.6 yards and 4.06 hangtime for the opponents. So, about a half a yard more with much better hangtime for the Eagles. Of course some of that is strategy related.

Elliott made both of his field goal attempts from short distances, distances where he would be expected to make about 1.86 of them. On the season, he is now 8-of-10 from distances where the expectation would be to make 8.67 of them. So he's a minus .67 on the season, meaning he's earned the Eagles "negative" two points. His average attempt is from 33.2 yards, a distance where a kicker should make about 89%. Elliott's Elo rating improved slightly to 2242, which ranks 20th in the league. The league average is at 2258. After missing two field goals, the rating of Eagles Opponent is now at 2221, which would rank 28th in the league. So it's sort of obvious that the Eagles have had some good luck the past year or so on opposing field goals. About damn time though because for what has seemed like about a decade, opposing kickers seemed to never miss, especially on longer kicks. The current Top Five kickers are Tucker (2411), Bryant (2372), Gould (2354), Hauschka (2330), and Gano (2326). The Botton Five kickers are Joseph (2204), Fairbairn (2199), Crosby(!) (2190), Rosas (2190), and McCrane (2169).

Other stuff:

* Maddox made a tackle on a punt. He's definitely starting to look like a solid special teams player.

* I thought Johnston intentionally line drived some punts to try to hit open areas in the opponents territory.

* Maddox downed a punt at the nine yard line instead of letting it roll a little closer to the goal line. He might have cost a few yards in field position there. Perhaps he didn't feel confident that the ball wouldn't bound into the endzone for a touchback.

* A mediocre Vikings punt snap followed by a poor punt by the Vikings punter almost hit an Eagles player and rolled for big yardage. It was that kind of day all around. Couldn't catch a break anywhere, it seemed.

* Elliott's onside kick attempt was a good one. It took a good bounce, which is all you can ask of the kicker. Unfortunately the Vikings made a good play. It happens.

* Let's beat the Giants tonight.

April 22, 2020

On 10/18/2018 at 6:55 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Giants game.

Cameron Johnston punted five times for the Eagles, with an average of about 44.4 yards and 4.44 hangtime. (Yes, that's six consecutive 4s!). Two of the five had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Only one of the five was hit outside the numbers. Riley Dixon punted five times for the Giants. He averaged about 50.6 yards and 4.73 hangtime, with all five reaching the 4.5 mark and two hit outside the numbers. The better statistical game goes to Dixon, putting Johnston's record at 4-2 in his theoretical battle with the opposing punter. Watching the game live, I hadn't noticed how well Dixon had punted. It kind of caught me by surprise when going through the game with my stopwatch.

On the season, Johnston is averaging about 47.8 yards (not "official" NFL statistics, by the way...it's based on where the ball actually landed) and 4.35 hangtime with 45% of his punts hitting the 4.5 second mark and 36% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 45.9 yards and 4.45 hangtime, with 53% hitting the 4.5 mark and 47% hit outside the numbers. So Johnston is getting about two more yards per punt but with a little less height overall. Plus, he's hitting the ball a little more to the middle of the field. It should be noted that these numbers will certainly go down over the next few months. They always do when it starts to get cold. Always.

Johnston's touch to toe times were good, as usual. 1.2's, though one was much quicker than that. The Giants were average to slightly below average. Around 1.35 or so. If I'm the Eagles, I'm looking to block a punt the next time they play. I don't love the Giants snapper on punts (never have). There might be an opportunity there.

Kickoffs. Jake Elliott kicked off seven times. His sixth kickoff was a low line drive which didn't meet the threshold for inclusion in the data. It gets counted as a "mis-hit" instead. His six other kickoffs averaged about 72.2 yards (approximately...there was one kickoff which was hard to interpret) and 4.09 hangtime. Aldrick Rosas kicked off four times for the Giants with an average of about 65.8 yards and 4.37 hangtime. Usually opposing kickers kick it longer but not as high as Elliott. Rosas was the exact opposite...shorter but higher. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 70.7 yards and 4.17 hangtime (on timeable kickoffs) compared to 69.1 yards and 4.10 hangtime for the opponents.

On place kicks, the Eagles were reasonably quick. The Giants were actually even better. Didn't realize that Rosas was that quick to the ball.

Elliott made two of three field goal attempts, from distances where he would be expected to make about 2.34 of them. On the season, he's now 10 of 13 from distances where he would be expected to make about 11.01. So he's a negative 1.01 on the season, meaning he's "cost" the team about three points over a standard NFL kicker. His average attempt is from 34.5 yards, from where the standard is about 87.5%. He's at only 77%. No matter how you slice it, Elliott has been below average this year when you look at the math of it. Elliott's Elo rating dropped to 2231, which ranks 24th in the league. The Giants only made two of three attempts, which dropped the rating of Eagles Opponent to 2209, which would rank 30th in the league. The current Top Five kickers are Tucker (2411), Bryant (2383), Gould (2364), Hauschka (2337), and Gostkowski (2332). The Bottom Five kickers are Joseph and Crosby (2208), Fairbairn (2203), Rosas (2180), and McCrane (2161).

Other stuff:

* I mentioned Elliott's kicking. One other point to make. When you watch other team's kickers, it always seems like their PATs are pretty much right down the middle. With Elliott, it always seems like they're going this way or that way. Not all the time, mind you, but enough times. Ultimately it only matters if they go in or not, and it's hard to complain about someone who has actually made ever extra point this season. But I've noticed.

* DeAndre Carter made a poor play on his first kickoff return. He cut back against the grain, only to get immediately swallowed by the GIants player at around the fourteen yard line.

* Carter had a nice punt return down the sideline on the Giants first punt, and later in the game had a good return up the middle.

* The Eagles got a bad break when Odell Beckham muffed a punt. The ball bounced right to him instead of bounding away for a recovery. Sigh.

* Liked the fact that Carter took a knee for a touchback on the opening kick of the second half when he fielded the ball one yard deep. Smart decision, I thought.

* Carter muffed a fair catch and recovered it himself. Strangely the Giants cover man ran away from him and wasn't there to challenge for the ball. It looked like he might have pulled a hamstring, which could explain why he did what he did on the play.

* The Giants got away with a facemask on one of Carter's punt returns.

* Dallas Goedert made a tackle on a punt. It was the one punt where Johnston obviously intentionally hurried his mechanics to get the ball off quickly. The Giants were looking for a block there given the score/time circumstances. It was kind of their last gasp at getting back in the game.

April 22, 2020

On 10/26/2018 at 1:40 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Panthers game.

Cameron Johnston punted three times with an average of about 45.0 yards and 4.05 hangtime. None of the three were in the air for at least 4.5 seconds. Only one of the three was hit outside the numbers. Michael Palardy punted five times for the Panthers, with an average of about 41.0 yards and 4.58 hangtime. Three of those had at least 4.5 hangtime. Two were hit outside the numbers. The better statistical day goes to Palardy, putting Johnston's record at 4-3 on the season in his theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the opposing punter.

Through seven games, Johnston is averaging about 47.6 yards (true distance) and 4.33 hangtime with 41% hitting the 4.5 mark and 35% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 45.2 yards and 4.47 hangtime with 54% hitting the 4.5 mark and 46% hit outside the numbers. About two and a half yards more per punt but with less hangtime for the Eagles.

Kickoffs. Jake Elliott kicked off four times. His first kickoff was a very low line drive and had to be excluded from the data because it shouldn't count as a legitimate kick. His other three kickoffs averaged only 62.7 yards and 3.80 hangtime. Graham Gano is probably the best kickoff specialist in the entire league. He only averaged about 63.3 yards but had 4.36 hangtime. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 69.9 yards and 4.13 hangtime on his real kickoffs while opponents are averaging about 68.4 yards and 4.13 hangtime. A "plus" for the Eagles.

Elliott made only one of two field goal attempts from distances where he would be expected to make about 1.56 of them. On the season, he's now 11 of 15 from distances where the standard would be to make about 12.57. So he's a negative 1.57, which mean's he's "cost" the Eagles about 4.7 points through seven games. His average attempt distance is about 35.4 yards, from which the expectancy is to make about 86%. He's only made about 73%. His Elo rating dropped to 2216, which ranks 28th in the league. The rating of Eagles Opponents remains at 2209, which would rank 29th in the league. The current league average is 2259. The standard of course is precisely 2200. (The entire rating system is based upon this exact number.) The Top Five active kickers are Tucker (2411), Bryant (2383), Gould (2369), Hauschka (2338), and Gostkowski (2333). The Bottom Five (six actually) are Joseph (2208), Crosby (2208), Sanders (2208), Tavecchio (2207), Rosas (2186), and McCrane (2161). Incidentally I had an error the previous week stemming from the fact that Caleb Sturgis was injured. I mistakenly attributed the Chargers field goal attempts the previous week to Sturgis rather than the newbie.

Other stuff (there wasn't much):

* Shelton Gibson made a very good tackle on a punt.

* Hall and Douglas combined for a tackle on a kickoff.

* Sullivan had a tackle on a punt.

* I thought Graham Gano intentionally kicked it short on his kickoffs in the fourth quarter. It looked like he was looking to hit the ball high and short.

* Historically kickers struggle in London, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are missed kicks in the Jaguars game.

April 22, 2020

On 11/3/2018 at 11:37 AM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Jaguars game in London.

Cameron Johnston punted three times with an average of about 51.7 yards and 4.68 hangtime. Two of the three had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Two of the three were hit outside the numbers. Rookie Logan Cooke punted only to times for the Jaguars. He averaged about 43.0 yards and 4.72 hangtime. Both of his punts had at least 4.5 seconds hangtime. One was hit outside the numbers while the other was not. His touch-to-toe time was pretty good, especially on his final punt. The better statistical game goes to Johnston, putting his mark at 5-3 on the season in his theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the opposing punter.

On the season, Johnston is averaging about 47.9 yards and 4.35 hangtime with 43% of his punts hitting the 4.5 second mark and 38% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters through eight games are averaging about 45.1 yards and 4.48 hangtime with 57% of their punts hitting the 4.5 second mark and 46% hitting outside the numbers. Much better distance for the Eagles but without as much height. Still, Johnston's overall numbers through eight games are better than any Eagles punter I've ever tracked over the past thirtysome years.

Kickoffs. Jake Elliott kicked off five times with an average of about 69.6 yards and 4.10 hangtime. Josh Lambo kicked off six times for the Wires with an average of about 65.5 yards and 3.96 hangtime. It wasn't a great day for kickoffs for some reason. On the season, Elliott is now averaging about 69.9 yards and 4.13 hangtime compared to 67.9 yards and 4.10 hangtime for Eagles opponents. (This only included legitimate deep kickoffs.) So two more yards per kick with a little better hangtime. Clear advantage Eagles

Elliott made his only field goal attempt from a distance where he would be expected to be successful about 91% of the time. On the season, he's now made 12 of 16 attempts from distances where the standard would be to make about 13.5 of them. So he's about 1.5 in the hole, meaning he's cost the team about 4.5 yards below standard through eight games. His average attempt is from 35.1 yards, from where the expectancy would be about 86.7%. He's only at 75%. His Elo rating is now at 2218, which ranks 29th in the league. Josh Lambo's rating is now at 2318, which would rank 8th. The rating of Eagles Opponents is now at 2234, which would rank 24th. The league average is at 2260. The Top Five active kickers at week Eight were Tucker (2411), Bryant (2383), Gould (2370), Hauschka (2348), and Gano (2339). The Bottom Five kickers were the since released Badgley (2209), Tavecchio (2207), Joseph (2198), Rosas (2191), and Carlson (2155).

Other stuff:

* I hated the Eagles first kickoff return. The had a designed return to the right, which worked out exceptionally poorly, with Carter fielding the ball at the three and only getting to the fourteen. Ugh.

* Corey Clement made a tackle on a kickoff.

* Carter made what I thought was a terrible play on the final punt by the Jaguars. Instead of coming up to fair catch the ball at the fifteen or sixteen, he let the ball bounce and roll all the way to the five yard line. It would have been a simple fair catch. He was close by and he had plenty of time. Instead he cost the Eagles ten yards. "Hidden Yardage".

* The Jags got flagged for an illegal formation on their final kickoff. They used a holder on the kick, so I'm guessing the holder was on the "wrong side" of the kicker when the ball was struck. They borrowed one of the guys on the left instead of from the right, which meant they had four guys to the left and six guys to the right.

* Also, it looked to me like Elliott was a little slower to the ball on his PATs than usual. (1.3s) Lambo was kinda slow (high 1.3s) on the Jags field goals too. Wondering if the Wembley turf had something to do with the kickers being a bit cautious.

April 22, 2020

On 11/16/2018 at 2:01 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Cowboys game.

Cameron Johnston only punted twice, with an average of 33.0 yards and a terrible 2.87 hangtime. Neither punt came close to 4.5 seconds and both were not hit outside the numbers. It was his worst game this year. Chris Jones punted four times for the Cowboys, with an average of about 41.3 yards and 4.45 hangtime. Two of the four had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds and two (the same two) were hit outside the numbers. The better statistical game goes to Jones, putting Johnston's mark at 5-4 on the season in his theoretical 1-on-1 matchup with the opposing punter.

On the season, Johnston is averaging about 47.1 yards and 4.28 hangtime with 41% of his punts having at least 4.5 hangtime and 36% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 44.7 yards and 4.48 hangtime with 56% hitting the 4.5 second mark and 46% hit outside the numbers. So Johnston is getting a few more yards of distance but not hitting the ball as high or consistently high. He's also punting the ball more to the middle of the field.

Jake Elliott kicked off five times with an average of about 70.6 yards and 3.96 hangtime. Brett Maher kicked off six times for the Cowboys and averaged about 62.5 yards and 3.90 hangtime. He also showed some amazing consistency in hitting the ball to the five yard line. On the season, Elliott is now averaging about 70.0 yards and 4.11 hangtime, while opponents are averaging about 67.2 yards and 4.08 hangtime. Strong advantage Eagles.

Elliott made both of his field goal attempts from distances where the standard would be to make about 1.43 of them. On the season, he's now 14 of 18 from distances where he would be expected to make 14.9. So he's at a negative .9, meaning he's "cost" the Eagles about 2.7 points. His average attempt is from about 35.8 yards, which would equate to about a 86% expectancy. And he's only at 78%. His Elo rating improved to 2231, which ranks 23rd in the league. The league average is now at 2261. The rating of Eagles Opponents dropped to 2217, which would rank 27th in the league. The Top Five kickers through Week Ten are Tucker (2412), Bryant (2383), Gould (2380), Hauschka (2359), and Gano (2339). The Bottom Five are Joseph (2208), Parkey (2198), Rosas (2194), Catanzaro (2193), and Carlson (2155).

Other stuff:

* Good play by Dallas Goedert on a punt tackle. (Interestingly, I found it amusing that prior to the game, at the moment the stadium began a chant of "Dallas Sucks", the scoreboard somehow immediately flashed to a shot of Goedert. Amazing and curious timing.)

* The Cowboys successfully pulled off a fake punt. Ugh. They did the same thing a couple years ago, although in a different manner. Ugh again.

* The Eagles punt return game somehow didn't collapse following the release of DeAndre Carter. As expected, Golden Tate did a completely capable job. He also displayed some smarts when he picked up a live ball after it had struck a Dallas player's helmet. There was no risk in doing so, so it was the right decision. Yet I'm still sure there were Eagles fans who were complaining about his presumed recklessness in doing so. The same thing happened a few years back when Colt Anderson picked up a punt in the Eagles endzone after a Packers player had already touched it. There were Eagles fans then who demanded Anderson's immediate release for supposedly being so stupid.

* 9-7 probably still wins the division if the Eagles can sweep the Redskins. I'm in no way prepared to give up on this season, unlike so many other supposed Eagles "fans", even if they lose to the Saints on Sunday. What might be uncomfortable is having to root for the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, but that's a sacrifice I'll be willing to take.

April 22, 2020

On 11/22/2018 at 11:28 AM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Saints debacle.

Cameron Johnston punted five times, including the re-try after the roughing penalty. He averaged about 40.0 yards and 3.84 hangtime. None of his punts had at least 4.5 hangtime, and all five were hit to the middle of the field. Thomas Morstead only punted twice for the Saints. He averaged about 49.5 yards and 4.80 hangtime. Both had at least 4.5 hangtime. Both were hit outside the numbers. This battle, much like the game itself, was no contest. Morstead clearly had the better game, putting Johnston's mark at 5-5 in his theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the opposing punter.

On the season, Johnston is now averaging about 46.3 yards and 4.23 hangtime with 36% of his punts hitting the 4.5 second mark and 32% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 44.9 yards and 4.49 hangtime with 58% hitting the 4.5 mark and 49% hit outside the numbers. Other than distance, where he's been good, Johnston's numbers really pale in comparison to his opponents.

Johnston's touch-to-toe times were quick, especially on the last few. That includes the one where he was roughed. The Eagles must have senses a rush was "on" on those attempts. New Orleans times were fine.

Jake Elliott only kicked off twice. It was nearly impossible to determine distance based on the television camera angle. I'm going with 75.0 yards and 4.18 hangtime as the average. I could be slightly off, but that's what I've got. Wil Lutz kicked off eight times for the Saints with an average (again the camera angles were often poor) of about 69.8 yards and 4.04 hangtime. There was an additional kickoff from midfield after a penalty that was struck by Morstead, but that one was excluded from the data because of its nature as an intentional short kick. Including it skews the data. On the season, Elliott is now averaging about 70.2 yards and 4.11 hangtime. Opponents are averaging about 67.6 yards and 4.07 hangtime. Better numbers for the Eagles all around.

Elliott attempted no field goals, so his numbers remain the same as last week. His Elo rating of 2221 now ranks 28th in the league. The rating of Eagles Opponents improved to 2231, which would rank 23rd in the league. The league average is 2258. The standard is 2200. The Top Five Kickers are Tucker (2416), Gould (2380), Hauschka (2359), Zuerlein (2327), and Prater (2323). The Bottom Five are Joseph (2208), Fairbairn (2204), Rosas (2204), Carlson (2170), and McCrane (2161). McCrane was only added to the Cardinals roster for one game and was subsequently released. He never even attempted a field goal for them.

For what it's worth, it looked like the Eagles were slightly slower than normal on their only PAT. I got it at about 1.32 seconds. The Saints many kicks were roughly in the 1.25 to 1.30 range.

Other stuff:

* After going an entire game without a single penalty, the Eagles were penalized on the opening kickoff. Disaster right from the start.

* Alexander made a tackle on a punt.

* Johnston made a tackle on a punt.

* Remember my prediction from a few weeks back that the Eagles will look to block a Giants punt this week. I think there is some vulnerability there. Of course, this assumes that the defense will somehow force a punt.

April 22, 2020

On 11/29/2018 at 3:29 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Giants game.

Cameron Johnston punted four times for the Eagles. He averaged about 48.5 yards (true distance) with 4.39 hangtime. Only one of the four had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Only one of the four was hit outside the numbers. Riley Dixon only punted three times for the Giants. He averaged about 42.3 yards and 3.69 hangtime. One of the three had a hangtime of at least four seconds. Two of the three were hit outside the numbers. One of those was extremely close and could have been counted the other way. Whatever. The better statistical game goes to Johnston, putting his mark at 6-5 on the season in his theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the opposing punter.

On the season, Johnston is averaging about 46.5 yards and 4.24 hangtime, with 35% reaching the 4.5 second mark and 31% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 44.8 yards and 4.44 hangtime, with 57% reaching the 4.5 second mark and 50% hit outside the numbers. The evidence is pretty strong at this point that Johnston is hitting the ball further, but not as high and definitely more towards the middle of the field. No question about that.

Both kickers had six kickoffs. Jake Elliott averaged about 66.8 yards and 4.29 hangtime. Aldrick Rosas averaged about 70.7 yards and 4.25 hangtime. Both kickers had at least one kickoff with extraordinarily good hangtime. (Elliott about 4.70; Rosas about 4.65.) On the season, Elliott is averaging about 69.8 yards with 4.13 hangtime while opposing kickers are averaging about 67.9 yards and 4.09 hangtime. This is of course only on legitimately deep kickoffs. Intentionally short kicks, squibs, onside kicks, and "mis-hit" kicks are excluded because they serve no statistical purpose.

Both teams times on place kicks were about the same. Roughly 1.20 to 1.27 seconds from snap to foot.

Elliott made all three of his field goal attempts from distances where the standard would be to make about 2.46 of them. Only the season, he's now 17-of-21 from distances where the standard would be to make about 17.37 of them. So he's roughly at a minus 1.1 in terms of points for the team. His average attempt distance is 36.05 yards. The standard (expectancy) from there would be about 85.5%. He's only at 81%. Elliott's Elo Rating improved to 2242, which now ranks 20th in the league. The rating of "Eagles Opponent" increased to 2232, which would rank 23rd in the league. The league average is at 2260. The standard is 2200. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2418), Gould (2380), Hauschka (2359), Zuerlein (2327), and Prater (2323). The Bottom Five are Rosas (2216), Tavecchio (2213), Bullock (2210), Joseph (2208), and Carlson (2176). Rosas's rating has gone up a lot this year, by the way. He's having a good year.

Other stuff:

* The Giants snapper isn't good. It's something I noticed years ago and it's still apparent. He had several off target snaps, both on punts and place kickers. He forced his holder to have to reach all over the place. That ain't good. Fortunately for him -- and unfortunately for us -- it never cost them.

* Golden Tate nearly fumbled a punt return. He actually lost three yards on the return in the first place after a terrible Giants punt took a favorable (for them) bounce which kind of forced him to return it.

* Kickoff coverage was not good.

* I thought the Eagles made the smart decision on the final kickoff to hit it short, forcing the Giants to use valuable time returning it. Again, the coverage could/should have been better.

* I love the fact that both of Elliott's longer field goal attempts were hit pretty much dead center. That really hasn't been the norm for him.

April 22, 2020

On 12/6/2018 at 6:22 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Redskins Monday Night game.

Cameron Johnston only punted twice, with an average of about 46.5 yards and 4.27 hangtime. One had at least 4.5 hangtime, and neither was hit outside the numbers. Tress Way, one of the better punters in the league in my opinion, punted six times for the Redskins, with an average of about 48.8 yards and 4.56 hangtime. Three of the six had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Two of the six were hit outside the numbers. The better statistical day goes to Way, putting Johnston's theoretical record at 6-6 on the season.

On the season, Johnston is averaging about 46.5 yards (identical to his game average) and 4.24 hangtime, with 36% reaching the 4.5 second mark and 30% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 45.2 yards and 4.45 hangtime, with 56% of their punts reaching the 4.5 second mark and 48% hit outside the numbers. Same story being told. Johnston's distance is better than the opposition, but he lags behind everywhere else. His "touch to toe" times were better than Way's, however, although both were fine.

Jake Elliott kicked off six times, with an average of about 68.5 yards and 4.18 hangtime. Dustin Hopkins kicked off four times for the Redskins with an average of about 70.8 yards and 3.94 hangtime. He had one relatively low line drive which pulled his average down. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 69.6 yards and 4.14 hangtime compared with 68.1 yards and 4.08 hangtime for the opposition...on legitimately deep and high kickoffs.

Elliott made both of his field goal attempts, which were kicked from distances where he would be expected to make about 1.44 of them. On the season, he's now 19-of-23 from distances where the expectancy would be 18.8. So he's +.2, which means he's earned the Eagles about .6 points above standard. This is the first time in quite awhile that he's been ahead of the curve. His average attempt distance is 36.83 yards, from which the expectancy would be about 84.6%. He's actually at 82.6%. Elliott's Elo rating improved to 2253, which now ranks 19th in the league. The rating of Eagles Opponents improved to 2244, which would rank 22nd in the league. The current league average is 2259. The standard is 2200. (The reason the average is routinely better than the standard is simply because kickers across the league are considerably better than they were about ten or fifteen years ago which is the era the standard was based upon.) The current Top Five kickers are Tucker (2423), Gould (2383), Hauschka (2343), Zuerlein (2337), and Prater (2326). The Bottom Five are Bailey (!) (2209), Joseph (2208), Crosby (2204), Carlson (2193), and Gonzalez (2166). I kinda hate giving credit to the Cowboys, but it looks like the pegged their kicking decision correctly. Bailey's performance over the past season and a half has really declined.

Other stuff:

* I remember being impressed with the Redskins snapper last year when I started paying more attention to opposing snappers. He's definitely better than the Giants guy. It looked to me like his punt snaps were right around .7 seconds, perhaps even faster than that. They are very difficult to time so it's hard to pinpoint it. Lavato's times were right around there too, perhaps a hair slower. Probably better than last year.

* Both teams were in the 1.25 range on their PATs/FGs. No issues whatsoever.

* Deiondre' Hall made a tackle on a punt.

* Darren Sproles returned as the team's punt returner. It was mostly non-eventful but at least he was there and that was good to see. And as someone noted while I was at the game, "Did you ever notice that every time he catches a punt, it's off to his side?"

* Something I've noticed for awhile now -- and it's definitely true in college and that's where I first started noticing it -- is that officials seem to mark balls after fair catches or when balls roll out of bounds to the nearest yard line. This is especially true at five yard intervals. A fair catch at roughly the eleven or nine is going to be marked at precisely the ten yard line. I guess it just makes it easier to put the sticks at an exact mark like that. The reason I mention it is because Adrian Peterson's record setting 90 yard touchdown run should really have been 91 yards. The Redskins return man fair caught the Johnston punt at the nine but it was marked at the ten.

April 22, 2020

On 12/15/2018 at 1:46 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Cowboys game.

Cameron Johnston punted six times, with an average of about 46.0 yards and 4.28 hangtime. Two of the six had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. None of them were hit outside the numbers. Every ball was pretty much right down the middle of the field. Chris Jones punted only twice for the Cowboys (and that's the real problem; the defense can't force fourth downs) with an average of about 44.0 yards and 4.23 hangtime. The better statistics go to Johnston, putting his record at 7-6 in his theoretical 1-on-1 matchup with the opposing punter.

On the season, Johnston is averaging about 46.4 yards and 4.25 hangtime with 36% of his punts reaching 4.5 seconds and only 27% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 45.2 yards and 4.45 hangtime with 56% reaching 4.5 seconds and 48% hit outside the numbers. A little over a yard more in raw distance for the Eagles, but not nearly as good in terms of hangtime or direction.

Jake Elliott kicked off six times (wish it was only five). The final kickoff in regulation came from the fifty yard line, so that kick is excluded from the data because it would distort the numbers too much. His five legit kickoffs averaged about 71.0 yards and 4.26 hangtime. Brett Maher kicked off five times (wish it was six) with an average of about 70.8 yards and 4.00 hangtime. These numbers could be off ever so slightly. Some kicks were tough to interpret. I did the best I could. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 69.8 yards and 4.15 hangtime. Opponents are averaging about 68.3 yards and 4.07 hangtime. Significant edge to the Eagles here.

Elliott made his only field goal attempt from a distance (26 yards) where the expectancy is about 95%. On the season, he's now 20 of 24 from distances where he would be expected to make about 19.76 of them. So he's plus .24, meaning he's "earned" the Eagles about .72 points above standard. His average attempt distance is 36.38 yards, a distance from which he would be expected to make about 85%. He's currently at around 83%. His Elo rating nudged upwards by a point, to 2254, which ranks sixteenth in the league. The league average is also 2254. The rating of "Eagles Opponent" is now at 2244, which would rank twentieth in the league. The standard is 2200. The current Top Five kickers are Tucker (he's always first, isn't he?) (2423), Gould (2386), Prater (2330), Myers (2322), and Zuerlein (2321). The Bottom Five are Parkey (2208), Carlson (2200), Catanzaro (2198), Bailey! (2192), and Gonzalez (2155.)

Other stuff:

* The Eagles were robbed on the opening kickoff. Cowboys fumbled. Eagles recovered. After replay, the Cowboys still got the ball. Absurd.

* The first Cowboys punt was a disaster. Instead of fair catching the ball at around the Eagles thirty yard line -- and Sproles had PLENTY of time to do precisely that -- he backed away and let the ball hit the ground, only to watch it roll another fifteen yards. The's a huge chunk of field position to give up for absolutely no reason. Hidden yardage. Brutal.

* Johnston's third punt grazed the scoreboard. It "only" had 5.0 hangtime, which isn't that uncommon. Kind of ridiculous that they built a stadium with a scoreboard over the middle of the field that hangs so low that it could be struck by a punt with a five second hangtime.

* Cole Beasley fair caught a punt at the thirteen yard line and the officials marked it at the fourteen. I was annoyed.

* While watching the extra point that Elliott missed in real time, I commented aloud that the snap was slightly off. This was before the ball was even kicked. Maybe only by a few inches, but Johnston had to reach a little to snag it.

* The timings for place kicks for both teams were fine. Around 1.25 or so on every kick. Maybe a tick faster for the Cowboys on their later attempts.

* Lovato's punt snaps seemed to be around .7 seconds, which is good. The Dallas snapper's times were notably different. I got one at .63 which is incredibly quick, and the other one at .80 which is kinda slow. I would doubt that he would be that inconsistent, so I'm sort of assuming they were just too difficult to time accurately.

April 22, 2020

On 12/20/2018 at 10:50 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Rams game.

Cameron Johnston (only) punted three times, with an average of about 50.7 yards (true distance) and 4.76 hangtime. All three had a hangtime of at least five seconds. All three were hit to the middle of the field in the area between the numbers. Johnny Hekker, one of the league's best punters, also punted three times. He averaged about 56.0 yards and 4.77 hangtime. All three of his punts had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Two of the three were hit outside the numbers. Both punters had very good games, but the edge goes to Hekker, putting Johnston's theoretical record at 7-7 on the season.

Through fourteen games, Johnston is now averaging about 46.7 yards and 4.27 hangtime, with 39% of his punts getting to the 4.5 second mark and only 25% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 45.8 yards and 4.46 hangtime, with 58% having a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds and 49% hit outside the numbers.

Jake Elliott kicked off seven times, with an average of about 70.0 yards and 4.01 hangtime. Greg Zuerlein kicked off five times, but his last two were intentionally short kicks. His three "real" kickoffs averaged about 72.7 yards and 3.97 hangtime. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 69.8 yards and 4.13 hangtime. Opponents are averaging about 68.5 yards and 4.07 hangtime. Definitely better numbers for the Eagles.

Elliott made three of four field goals, from distances where the expectancy would be to make about 2.83 of them. On the season, he's now 23 of 28 from distances where the standard would be to make about 22.6. So he's plus .4, which means he's "earned" the Eagles about 1.2 points over standard. His average attempt is from 37.5 yards, a distance at which the expectancy would be to make about 83.7%. He's at 82%. His Elo rating dropped slightly, down to 2253, which would rank 17th. The league average is now at 2256. The rating of Eagles Opponents is now at 2254, which would also rank 17th. The current Top Five active kickers are Tucker (2424), Gould (2392), Zuerlein (2328), Lutz (2325), and Myers (2323). The Bottom Five are Tavecchio (2213), Parkey (2209), Bailey (2199), Catanzaro (2198), and Gonzalez (2155).

Other stuff:

* Both the Eagles and Rams were pretty good at their field goal snapping/kicking. Times generally around 1.25 seconds. The Eagles may have been marginally quicker than that a few times.

* Johnston was very quick in his get-off. In fact, on his final punt, he was down around 1.05 seconds, which is phenomenal. Hekker was a bit more deliberate, almost borderline slow on one of them. More around 1.30, although his last one was quicker.

* Lovato's punt snaps seemed to be around .71 or so. That range. The Rams snapper was actually slower than that. Closer to .80. Strange, because I kinda recall him (and it turns out it was the same guy) being really quick on his snaps last year.

* During the game, I commented that the Eagles need to be wary of trick plays by the Rams because they probably run them more than the rest of the league does combined. And sure enough, the Rams tried a fake punt. Thankfully it failed. I was initially annoyed at the fact that the Eagles seemed to "allow" it to happen, but when I watched it later, I realized they were well prepared. The gunner was actually well covered, and it would have taken a perfect throw to complete the pass.

* Newcomer B.J. Bello made a tackle on a kickofff.

* Both the punt coverage and kickoff coverage units did a good job. D.J. Alexander recovered a fumbled punt, which was a critical play late in the game.

* I was really disappointed by the play Shelton Gibson made on the Rams first short kickoff. He barely went anywhere with the ball. Granted, there wasn't much blocking in front of him but there was also a lot of open space there which he could have run towards. Instead, he tried to go to his right (why?) and was swallowed up. It reminded me a little of Gizmo Williams back in the day. Gizmo came to the Eagles from Canada one year and was hugely touted as being a great return man. The truth was, he was terrible, and it was obvious almost immediately. On just about every return, Gizmo would field the ball, make an immediate juking move, and then head to his right. It was comical how predictable it was. Catch, juke, run right. Catch, juke, run right. He didn't last long, thankfully. Incidentally, Darren Sproles' return on the next kick (and it's kind of telling that they put him back there at that juncture that time, having just witnessed the Gibson catastrophe) wasn't especially good either. It really felt like the Rams "won" both of those special teams plays in terms of field position.

* I thought the Eagles made the correct decision trying to kick the 53 yard field goal with a little over a minute to go in the game. If you make it, you win. And the odds are better than 50-50 that an NFL kicker would make it from that distance. Especially in good conditions. Unfortunately it looked like Elliott struck the ground a little as he was about to make contact with the ball. According to the graphics on television, his previous kicks were 64 and 66 in Ball Speed and 47 and 45 in Apex. On the missed kick, he got 66 Speed but only 39 Apex. For comparison purposes, Zuerlein's Ball Speed was shown to be 68 with an Apex of 40.

April 22, 2020

On 12/28/2018 at 11:24 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Texans game...a little later in the week than usual. Holidays and all. Anyway...

Cameron Johnston only punted twice for the Eagles, which is a good thing. He averaged about 43.5 yards and 4.12 hangtime with neither punt in the air for at least 4.5 seconds or hit outside the numbers. Trevor Daniel punted four times for the Texans with an average of about 37.5 yards and 3.82 hangtime. None of his four had a 4.5 (or more) hangtime. Two were hit outside the numbers. The better statistical day goes to Johnston, clearly. This puts his mark at 8-7 in his theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the opposing team's punter.

On the season, Johnston is averaging about 46.6 yards and 4.27 hangtime, with 38% of his punts hitting the 4.5 second mark and only 25% hit outside the numbers. (Long and low and down the middle seems to be the objective this year.) Opposing punters are averaging about 45.2 yards and 4.42 hangtime, with 54% hitting the 4.5 second mark and 49% hit outside the numbers.

It looked to me like both snappers were about the same on punts. Roughly 0.7 seconds, maybe a tick slower. But both were absolutely fine. Daniel was a bit slow (but not problematic) on one punt but was otherwise well within the acceptable range. On Johnston's second punt (the touchback), he got the ball off extremely quickly.

Jake Elliott kicked off six times. It was perhaps his weakest performance of the year. I would suggest this might have been because of the weather, but it really wasn't all that cold despite the game being played in relatively late December. He averaged about 68.0 yards and 4.02 hangtime. Ka'imi Fairbairn kicked off six times with an average of about 63.3 yards and 3.92 (edited 1/3/19) hangtime. One of his kickoffs was intentionally short but still fell in the range of inclusion in the data. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 69.3 yards and 4.12 hangtime. Opposing kickers are averaging about 68.3 yards and 4.06 hangtime. Advantage Eagles.

Field goal/extra point times were pretty normal for the Eagles. Roughly 1.2 seconds from snap to foot. The Texans, on the other hand, were kinda slow. Probably the slowest of any team I've seen this year. Not sure if the holder was deliberate or if the kicker was deliberate. Probably the latter. But they were flirting with 1.4 on a bunch of their kicks. I would not be surprised if they have a kick blocked against them in the postseason. There, I called it first.

Elliott made both of his field goal attempts from distances where the standard would be to make about 1.55 of them. On the season, he's now 25 of 30 on kicks with an expectancy of about 24.14. So he's plus .86, which means he's earned the Eagles about 2.6 points above standard. His average attempt this season is now at 37.8 yards, a distance at which the standard is about 83.2%, which is pretty much exactly where he is (25 of 30 comes to 83.3%). Elliott's Elo rating improved to 2262, which now ranks sixteenth in the league. The league average is now 2256. The rating of Eagles Opponent is now at 2255, which would rank eighteenth. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2410), Gould (2394), Prater (2323), Zuerlein (2313), and Lutz (2310). The Bottom Five are Tavecchio (2213), Catanzaro (2207), Bailey (2201), Parkey (2189), and Gonzalez (2148). Tavecchio has been inactive for the past month, but as far as I can tell, he's still on the Falcons active roster.

Other stuff:

* Nate Gerry made a tackle on a kickoff. LaRoy Reynolds made a tackle on a kickoff. And another one. Definitely liking his energy and overall special teams play, except for one glaring error which I'll mention shortly.

* Boston Scott made his debut as the Eagles kickoff return man. Obviously the Eagles were not too impressed with Shelton Gibson in that role. I don't blame them. Scott had one good return, but also made a somewhat questionable return fielding a ball about six yards deep in the endzone and only getting it out to the twenty-one. A lot of people have criticized him for his final return, where he fielded it at the goal line and only got to the eleven. I really think that criticism is misguided, and is due in part because Dan Fouts was critical. And fans ten to parrot what they hear. Frankly, I don't have an issue with him there. He wasn't IN the endzone. He was AT the goal line. He can't play referee "in the moment". He can't let the ball hit the ground and have it land at the one and bounce the wrong way. He has to make a play. It just so happens that the kick was Fairbairn's highest kick off the day and the Eagles didn't block it up very well.

* De'Vante Bausby was penalized for holding on a punt on the other side of the field from where the ball was kicked. Huge loss of field position. Bad.

* The Eagles really screwed up their final punt. The ball landed at the nine yard line and Deiondre' Hall watched it hit at the five yard line. He could have fielded it there and been satisfied with that excellent field position. Instead he let it take another bounce, hoping it could be downed closer to the goal line. But the final bounce ended up being a bit stronger than he anticipated. And instead of stopping it at the one yard line, the Eagles allowed a touchback when LaRoy Reynolds touched the ball while his leg was in the endzone. He has to have better awareness there. Brutal play in a series of bad moments for the Eagles. Thankfully the game ended on a positive note.

* Jake Elliott missed a PAT, wide right. It looked to me like the snap might have been a tad low. But that's kind of making excuses for the kicker. Fortunately the snap on the game winner was perfect and the kick was dead center. Hallelujah!

April 22, 2020

On 1/3/2019 at 3:42 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

The very satisfying Redskins finale.

Cameron Johnston punted five times for the Eagles, with an average of about 41.0 yards and 4.04 hangtime. None of his punts had at least 4.5 hangtime, and only one of the three was hit outside the numbers. Tress Way punted five times for the Redskins, with an average of about 43.2 yards and 4.50 hangtime. Three of his punts had at least 4.5 hangtime, and three (the first three) were hit outside the numbers. His last two were hit to the middle of the field. The better statistical day goes to Way, putting Johnston's theoretical 1-on-1 mark at 8-8 on the season.

Through the regular season, Johnston averaged about 46.3 yards and 4.26 hangtime. Only 36% of his punts had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds, and only 25% were hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters averaged about 45.1 yards and 4.43 hangtime. 55% of their punts had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds, and 50% were hit outside the numbers.

Johnston's touch-to-toe times were good, like they always are. About 1.15 on the first two, and maybe 1.25 on his last two. Way was consistently around 1.25 seconds.

It looked like Lovato's punt snap times were around .75 seconds, although the second one might have been slower than that. These are very difficult to time. At any rate, I believe he was a little slower than he had been in previous games. The Redskins had real issues with their punt snapping. Their excellent regular snapper went on Injured Reserve a couple weeks ago, and they signed a replacement-level snapper to handle the duties the last couple weeks of the season. And it was obvious that he was a replacement-level snapper. His times were around .85 seconds, which is well below what you're looking for. If you go through a season with a snapper like that, you're probably going to get a few punts blocked.

Jake Elliott kicked off five times for the Eagles. He didn't have one of his better games. He averaged about 63.4 yards (not even to the goal line) and 4.00 hangtime. Dustin Hopkins only kicked off once for the Redskins (which is a good thing!) and hit it about 69 yards with 4.44 hangtime. On the season, Elliott averaged about 68.9 yards and 4.11 hangtime (on legitimate deep kickoffs which were not "mis-hit") while opponents averaged about 68.3 yards and 4.07 hangtime.

There's no doubt that the Eagles were better than their opponents on kickoffs this year while being worse on punts (when you factor in the hangtime.)

The Eagles times on place kicks (from snap to foot) were right around 1.25 seconds, which is absolutely fine.

Elliott made his only field goal attempt from 33 yards, a distance where the expectancy (circa 2000; the league is better now) is about 89%. On the season, he made 26 of 31 from distances where he would be expected to make about 25.03. So he was "plus" .97, which means he "earned" the Eagles about 2.9 points above standard. His average attempt was from 37.6 yards, a distance where the standard would be to make about 83.5%. He actually made 83.9%. His Elo rating improved to 2264, which ranks sixteenth in the league. The rating of Eagles Opponent remains at 2255, which would rank nineteenth in the league. The league average is 2256. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2413), Gould (2395), Prater (2326), Zuerlein (2320), and Lutz (2310). The Bottom Five are Maher (2209), Bailey (2208), Parkey (2195), McCrane (2179), and Gonzalez (2177).

Other stuff:

* A fake punt by the Redskins was successful. Avonte Maddox was outmaneuvered by the gunner for a reception. Thankfully the drive stalled a few plays later.

* It looked to me like the snap on the successful Eagles field goal in the first quarter was a fraction low. I'm seeing this on occasion, though it doesn't seem problematic.

* Gerry and Jenkins combined for a tackle on a kickoff.

* Reynolds made a tackle on a punt.

* Sullivan and Reynolds combined for a tackle on a kickoff. Again, Reynolds is flashing a bit in coverage. Good to see.

* In three years under Doug Pederson, the Eagles have never run a trick play on a punt or field goal (or even kickoff). It always seemed like under Andy Reid, they'd run at least one a year, especially in his early years. I don't know why, but I just have a hunch that they're going to unfurl one against the Bears this week. It just feels like the time.

April 22, 2020

On 1/10/2019 at 6:29 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Bears playoff game.

Cameron Johnston punted five times, with an average of about 44.8 yards (true distance) and 4.22 hangtime. Only one of the five punts had at least 4.5 hangtime. Two of the five were hit outside the numbers. Pat O'Donnell had six official punts but he actually punted seven times with an average of about 37.0 yards (he had three punts from midfield) and 4.29 hangtime. Three (almost four) had at least 4.5 hangtime. Six were hit outside the numbers. On the season, Johnston is now averaging about 46.2 yards and 4.26 hangtime, with 35% hitting the 4.5 second mark and 26% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 44.3 yards and 4.41 hangtime, with 53% hitting the 4.5 mark and 53% hit outside the numbers. The better statistical day goes to Johnston (again, O'Donnell was at a disadvantage, stats-wise, based on field position), putting his theoretical mark at 9-8 on the season.

Johnston's touch-to-toe times were good, as they always are. In fact, he was amazingly quick (under one second) on the punt from deep in his own endzone. Lovato seemed closer to .75 seconds this week. O'Donnell was around 1.25 to 1.30 seconds on his times. The Bears snapper was pretty good, I thought. Low .7s mostly, and the Bears were doing fifteen yard snaps (mostly) on their punts. That was the standard thirty years ago, but most teams hover around fourteen yards these days, not wanting to give away a free yard they don't have to.

Jake Elliott kicked off four times, but his first was a mis-hit so it's excluded. His three regular kickoffs averaged only 62.7 yards and 4.01 hangtime. Cody Parkey kicked off four times (and thankfully not a fifth) with an average of about 64.5 yards and 3.88 hangtime. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 68.6 yards and 4.10 hangtime while opposing kickers are averaging about 68.1 yards and 4.06 hangtime

Elliott made his only field goal attempt, which coincidentally was from the same distance (43) as Parkey's beautiful miss. Based on the standards I use, that's about a 75% proposition. On the season, Elliott is now 27 of 32 from distances where the expectancy would be 25.8. So he's plus 1.2, which means he's earned the Eagles about 3.6 points above standard. His average attempt is 37.8 yards. His Elo rating improved to 2268, which is a career high. That rating ranks 16th in the league. The current league average is 2255. The rating of Eagles Opponents dropped to 2242, which would rank 24th in the league. The current Top Five kickers are Tucker (2400), Gould (2395), Prater (2326), Zuerlein (2320), and Lutz (2310). The Bottom Five are Bailey (2208), Maher (2203), Parkey! (2185), McCrane (2179), and Gonzalez (2177).

Other stuff:

* Boneheaded play by LaRoy Reynolds jumping offsides on the Bears first punt. Instead of a touchback, the Bears re-kicked and knocked the ball out at the one yard line. Brutal.

* Sproles let a punt land at the fifteen yard line and roll down to the seven. A loss of eight yards for no good reason.

* Sproles allowed a punt to land at the forty-four yard line and roll to him at the thirty-three yard line. He also didn't exactly hurry to field it, and then proceeded to lose ground on his return. Another play where the Eagles did not maximize their field position chances.

* Deiondre' Hall made a tackle on the opening kickoff the second half. Good play.

* Boston Scott only managed to return the ball to the fourteen yard line on a kickoff to the goal line that didn't really have good hangtime. That seems hard to do. To only get that far, I mean. Looks like Grugier-Hill missed his block.

* I guess it should count as a special teams play. I'm convinced Wendell Smallwood scored on that two point conversion attempt. I put a straight edge on my TV screen and lined it directly across the goal line and waited to see if the nose of the football ever touched it. And it did, barely and only for the briefest of moments. Anyway, thankfully his fumble was not picked up by a Chicago player and returned for two points. That would have been tragic. And controversial beyond belief.

* The Eagles final kickoff was somewhat disastrous. Daeshon Hall missed making the tackle at around the twenty yard line, and BJ Bello and Nathan Gerry weren't able to come off blocks quickly enough. Gerry in particular was ridden out. Then Cre'Von LeBlanc missed on his diving attempt. Thankfully the returner "only" got to the 42-yard line.

* Icing the kicker actually worked. It might not have been the cause of the miss, but it certainly didn't hurt. Oh, and Treyvon Hester scraped the ball with his fingers as it flew past him. It's debatable whether than helped or hurt the kick. No one will every really know, I suppose.

* I would say that the Eagles were slightly quicker (low 1.2 times) on their place kicks than the Bears were (1.25ish for the most part, perhaps around 1.3 on their first two.)

April 22, 2020

On 3/17/2019 at 3:39 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Saints playoff game (which I had to wait a long time before I could stomach looking at again).

Cameron Johnston punted five times, with an average of about 48.4 yards and 4.23 hangtime. None of the five punts had 4.5 second hangtime. Two of the five were hit outside the numbers. Thomas Morstead puned three times for the Saints, with an average of about 44.3 yards and 4.91 hangtime. All three had at least 4.5 hangtime. Two of the three were hit outside the numbers. Statistically the edge went to the Saints (the vastly superior hangtime outweighing the lesser distance), putting Johnston at 9-9 on the season in his theoretical battle with the opposing punter.

On the season, Johnston averaged about 46.3 yards and 4.25 hangtime, with 32% of his punts hitting the 4.5 second mark and only 27% hit outside the numbers. Clearly the pattern this year was to try to hit it long and down the middle, with little emphasis on pinning the ball toward the sideline. Opposing punters averaged about 44.3 yards and 4.43 hangtime, with 55% hitting the 4.5 second mark and 54% hit outside the numbers. Significantly better hangtime for the other teams with more consistency and more attention at directional punting.

Johnston's touch-to-toe times were phenomenal in this game. Every punt was less than 1.1 seconds. Johnston is easily the most proficient punter the Eagles have ever had at getting rid of the ball quickly. Morstead's times were in the average range. Around 1.25 to 1.30 seconds. I didn't looking at the punt snap times.

Kickoffs. Jake Elliott kicked off three times early in the game (and sadly, never again). He averaged about 64.3 yards and 3.97 hangtime. Considering the game was played indoors, not really a good game. Wil Lutz kicked off five times for the Saints, with an average of about 69.0 yards and 4.25 hangtime. On the season, Elliott averaged about 68.4 yards and 4.10 hangtime. Opposing kickers averaged 68.1 yards and 4.07 hangtime. Curiously Elliott's numbers were almost identical to last year's -- 68.5 and 4.10. So, a slight advantage to the Eagles as compared to their opponents. A little more distance as well as a little more height. Elliott is fine there.

The snap to foot times on place kicks were normal. Looked to be low 1.2s for the Eagles and upper 1.2s for the Saints.

Elliott had no field goal attempts, which left him at 27 of 32 on the entire season, from distances where the standard would be to make about 25.8, which made him a "plus" 1.2. His average attempt distance was 37.8. His Elo rating remained at 2268, which ranked sixteenth in the league. The rating of "Eagles Opponents" dropped to 2236, which would rank twenty-fifth in the league. The league average was 2253. At the conclusion of the Super Bowl, which unfortunately the Eagles didn't win this year, the top five kickers were Tucker (2400), Gould (2395), Prater (2326), Zuerlein (2320), and Myers (2307). The Bottom Five were Bailey (2208), Maher (2203), Parkey (2185), McCrane (2179), and Gonzalez (2177). Rose (2183) would be in the mix there, as he was signed by the Chargers at the end of the season. But he was only used for kickoffs.

Other stuff:

* The fake punt that the Saints converted changed the game. Dammit.

April 22, 2020

On 7/11/2019 at 6:35 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

I spent a little time recently crunching the numbers. The stats are still "unofficial", based on what I was able to collect during the season. The official stats will be released this summer, at which point I will comb through the data to find any discrepancies. There may be some. It's not uncommon for a field goal to be listed as being from 41 yards, only to have it changed weeks later to 42 yards. I'm confident these numbers are reasonably accurate. It's a ranking of all kickers last year who attempted at least ten field goals, based on "Points Above Expected Per Attempt". (Sorry that the formatting is unpleasant.)

01 Matt Bryant .590

02 Jason Myers .455

03 Dustin Hopkins .438

04 Aldrick Rosas .436

05 Michael Badgley .405

06 Josh Lambo .397

07 Robbie Gould .386

08 Graham Gano .380

09 Will Lutz .379

10 Justin Tucker .349

11 Ka'imi Fairbairn .273

12 Jason Sanders .237

13 Matt Prater .214

14 Harrison Butker .201

15 Greg Zuerlein .195

16 Adam Vinatieri .170

17 Daniel Carlson .167

18 Brandon McManus .151

19 Ryan Succop .149

20 Mason Crosby .144

21 Randy Bullock .139

22 Greg Joseph .128

23 Seb Janikowski .119

24 JAKE ELLIOTT .095

25 Brett Maher .084

26 Steven Hauschka .065

27 Ste Gostkowski .060

28 Chan Catanzaro -.071

29 Cairo Santos -.140

30 Dan Bailey -.160

31 Cody Parkey -.168

32 Zane Gonzalez -.221

33 Matt McCrane -.272

34 Caleb Sturgis -.286

35 Chris Boswell -.411

It's interesting that both the Giants and Redskins were very effective last year while the Cowboys were not. Also, Dan Bailey and Chris Boswell have been quality kickers in the past and had terrible seasons. So did Cody Parkey. And normally guys like Steven Gostkowksi and Ryan Hauschka would rank higher but had off-years.

You might ask how Robbie Gould can be ranked seventh despite missing only one field goal (33 of 34) all season. Well, the fact is that his average attempt distance was only from about 35.5 yards out, which is uncommonly short. So he was expected to make those kicks. Compare that to Jason Myers, who made 33 of 36 from an average distance of 40.5. The percentage isn't as good, but the performance is actually much better.

Our own Jake Elliott had a so-so year. Like Gould, his average attempt distance wasn't that long. Only 37.6 yards, which is below the league average of about 38.2. In his rookie year, his average attempt distance was 40.3 yards. He was 26 of 31 in both of his seasons, the percentage being the same but the performance being much better in '17.

Incidentally these are regular season numbers only with extra points not included.

Keep in mind that these numbers only reflect last season. Even though Justin Tucker ranked tenth (which is actually pretty good), he's clearly the best kicker in the league.

April 22, 2020

On 8/12/2019 at 3:01 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Titans preseason opener stuff. Not as detailed as in the regular season. Didn't bother timing Titans stuff.

Cameron Johnston punted six times, with an average of about 46.2 yards and 4.69 hangtime

Jake Elliott kicked off three times, with an average distance of about 69.3 yards. I'm not 100% sure on the hangtime of his final kickoff, but I'd say his average hangtime was about 4.09 seconds.

The "numbers" for Johnston and Elliott look pretty good, yet I don't feel either one had a great game. Okay. Not bad. But not great either.

I also thought snapper Rick Lovato had an off night. One of his punts snaps was a bit high and wide. And his average snap was closer to .80 than .75. He can -- and has -- done better than that. Not going to be alarmed, but want to at least make a note of it.

Elliott attempted three kicks, including a PAT. The standard expectancy based on those distances was about 2.3. And he only made two. (He made from 53 and missed from 40.) So he was a negative on the day. He was also a negative last preseason, for what it's worth.

Other stuff:

* Donnel Pumphrey returned the opening kickoff from deep in his endzone and failed to get to the 25-yard line. In a regular game, I would be annoyed by this. But in the preseason, it doesn't hurt to try to execute a return.

* Jeremiah McKinnon blew the containment on his side on a punt and allowed the return man to get outside of him. Not good.

* Alex Singleton and Charles Johnson combined on a punt coverage tackle.

* Pumphrey fumbled a kick return but his elbow was actually down when the ball came out. If the Titans had recovered it, it would have been overturned. Still, you don't want so the ball on the ground.

* Marken Michel juggled a fair catch close to the goal line. A little disconcerting.

* Kasim Edebali made a tackle on a punt.

* Michel also allowed a return man to get outside of his containment on an Eagles punt.

* DeAndre Thompkins returned a kickoff from the endzone and got the ball out to about the 25. Didn't really show anything special though.

* Treyvon Hester blocked a field goal.

April 22, 2020

On 8/21/2019 at 8:24 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

The latest preseason game against the Jaguars...just a quick look.

Cameron Johnston punted four times, with an average of about 41.3 yards and 4.63 hangtime. Through two games, he's averaging about 44.2 yards and 4.67 hangtime

Jake Elliott kicked off five times, with an average of about 65.4 yards and 4.31 hangtime. Through two games, he's averaging about 66.9 yards and 4.23 hangtime.

Elliott made all four of his kicks. Three PATs and a 52-yard field goal. The expectancy on those four kicks was about 3.25. Through two games, he's 6 of 7, including PATs. The expectancy on those kicks was about 5.6. So he's doing better than standard.

Other stuff:

* Mack Hollins made an impact as a punt gunner. Good to see after missing an entire season.

* I absolutely hated what Boston Scott did on punt returns. He let numerous punts hit the ground, costing the team plenty of hidden yardage. One punt rolled for an extra fifteen yards. Another rolled for another ten. You can't do that. He looked okay on his one kickoff return though.

* L.J. Fort made a tackle on a punt.

* Trae Elston had a very secure 1-on-1 tackle on a kickoff. Good play.

* Kasim Edebali made a tackle on a punt. That's the second week in a row that he did something eye-catching.

* Rick Lovato's snaps were a little better this week than in the opener but probably not quite to his normal standard.

April 22, 2020

On 8/29/2019 at 1:46 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Real quick data from the abbreviated Ravens game.

Cameron Johnston punted five times and averaged about 48.4 yards and 4.74 hangtime. His preseason average is at 45.6 yards and 4.69 hangtime. Summertime numbers are always going to look good, of course.

Jake Elliott kicked off three times and averaged about 67.3 yards and 4.14 hangtime, although the latter number is somewhat iffy because his final kickoff was difficult to time. Through three preseason games, he's averaging about 67.0 yards and 4.21 hangtime. Distance is good, not great. Hangtime is solid.

Elliott made his only PAT and missed his only FG from 40 yards. Including extra points (which I don't track during the regular season), he's attempted nine kicks and made seven. His "expected value" on those kicks was 7.25, so he's at a slight minus.

Side note: I watched Elliott in pregame warmups and counted him making 13 of 21 attempts from various distances. He usually starts at extra point distance and then works back to about 55 yards, then turns around and works in from about the same distance. Eight misses is a lot. Most kickers will miss one or two but usually not more than that. Then he missed the field goal before the half, and at halftime came out and missed his first warmup kick. Umm...not a good night for him.

P.S. I'm also continuing to like Alex Ellis as a special teamer.

April 22, 2020

On 9/2/2019 at 2:10 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Jets game stuff.

Cameron Johnston punted eight times with an average true distance of about 46.4 yard and 4.80 hangtime. His preseason numbers were 45.9 and 4.73 hangtime. Good. Overall this was the best of his three preseasons with the Eagles. Of course those numbers are somewhat inflated because it's summertime.

Jake Elliott never got on the field. No PATs, no field goal attempts, and the only kickoff was a dropkick by Johnston.

Alex Ellis, Alex SIngleton, and Kasim Edebali (the usual suspects) did well on coverage plays.

Thankfully the real stuff starts next week.

April 22, 2020

On 9/11/2019 at 11:12 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Season opening win against the Redskins.

Cameron Johnston punted three times for the Eagles, all in the first half. His average distance, as measured from the line of scrimmage to where the ball landed (or was caught) was 51.3 yards, with 4.49 hangtime. Two of the three were hit outside the numbers. Only one of the three had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Tress Way, who I consider to be one of the league's elite punters, had five official punts for the Redskins. But he actually punted six times, with one of them being negated by penalty. His average distance was 53.2 yards, with 4.62 hangtime. Two of the six were hit outside the numbers. Five of the six had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. So the better statistical performance goes to the Redskins on this day.

I've thought for a while now that the Redskins have a very good snapper. I first noticed him a couple years ago. His velocity on snaps is very good, but he actually had some off-target efforts which he got away with.

Rick Lovato's snaps were good. His punt snaps seemed to me to be under .7 seconds, which is better than I've ever seen from him. But I could be off slightly with my hand timing. One thing I'm certain of, however, is that the Eagles were quicker on punts from snap to foot than the Redskins were. The Eagles were doing it in about 1.8 seconds whereas the Skins were coming in around 1.9 seconds. This is due primarily to the fact that Johnston is amazingly quick in his punting motion. Way was fine in this regard too but not like Johnston. I think anything under 2 seconds is acceptable. When you're slower than that, you're vulnerable. )For what it's worth, my gut feeling has been over the years that the Giants are the team that's more vulnerable than anyone else. But those games are three months away). Incidentally, the Eagles were also quicker on PATs/FGs than the Redskins were. Roughly 1.15 seconds from snap to foot as compared to around 1.20.

Jake Elliott kicked off six times, but only five met the standard for inclusion to the records. (One kick was too short, obviously intentionally, so including it would distort any meaning.) He averaged about 67.0 yards (two yards deep) with 4.27 hangtime on those five kickoffs. Dustin Hopkins is a very good kickoff guy, right up there with Graham Gano, who's actually out for this year. He averaged about 75.0 yards (end line of the endzone) with 4.28 hangtime. No contest on which kicker was more impressive here.

Elliott made his only attempt, from 22 yards. That's a 98% kick. His Elo Kicking rating was unaffected (making a gimme kick isn't going to move the needle any) and remains at 2268, which ranks 14th in the league. The league average is currently at 2257. The rating of Eagles Opponent improved to 2247, which would rank tied for 18th. The current Top Five kickers are Tucker (2401), Bryant (2386), Gould (2383), Prater (2335), and Zuerlein (2313). The Bottom Five(Six) are Pineiro (2204), Slye (2204), Maher (2203), Gay (2202), Gonzalez (2188), and Vedvik (2183). Seibert would be at 2200 but he had no field goal attempts in his first career game so he's technically still unrated.

Other stuff:

* Corey Clement was the kick returner but didn't get to return any.

* As mentioned previously, the Eagles are doing things differently this year on their PATs. Instead of kicking from the middle of the field, they're placing the ball on the left hash. No doubt this is to counteract any tendency that Elliott has had with pushing his short kicks to the right.

* The Redskins gained field position when the Eagles forced them to re-punt from ten yards further back near the end of the first half. It was the correct decision, but the Skins simply made a good play. It happens.

* On the intentional short kickoff by Elliott (up 21-20), the Redskins were still able to get the ball past the 25-yard line, so the strategy didn't really work.

* Andrew Sendejo made a very good tackle on the kickoff with the score at 29-20.

* Nate Gerry cleanly snagged the Washington onside kick with six seconds to go, saving all of us a minute of Hail Mary angst. Curiously the Redskins were flagged for offside on the play, yet I didn't see it on the replay.

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