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FranklinFldEBUpper
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7 hours ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

I think that's pretty standard.

I'd assumed so, but for whatever reason, it stood out to me.  I'm surprised teams don't use the cadence to draw teams offsides as I am sure teams will key on it

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Broncos game. It must be great to be a specialist in Denver because of the altitude. Stats are inflated so much because the ball just flies!

Arryn Siposs punted three times for the Eagles with an average of about 50.3 yards and 4.52 hangtime. Two of the three had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. All three were hit outside the numbers. Sam Martin punted four times for the Broncos. He averaged about 53.0 yards and 4.42 hangtime. Two of those had at least 4.5 seconds in the air. Only one was hit outside the numbers. It was close but the better stats go to the Broncos on this one, putting Siposs's record at 5-3-2 on the year.

Through ten games, Siposs is averaging about 46.4 yards and 4.37 hangtime with 44% at 4.5 seconds or more and 58% hit outside the numbers. Opponents are averaging about 45.6 yards and 4.41 hangtime with 52% at 4.5 seconds and 48% hit outside the numbers. About a yard more with about .04 seconds less hangtime for the Eagles.

As is consistently the case, the Eagles were slightly quicker with their punting process than the Broncos. Denver was right around 2.1 seconds while the Eagles were closer to 2.0.

Kickoffs were a touchback-fest with nearly every kick sailing out of the back of the endzone on the fly. It made it difficult to categorize these but I did my best. Jake Elliott kicked off seven times with an average of about 77.0 yards (that's two yards past the end line) and 4.22 hangtime. Brandon McManus kicked off four times for the Broncos. He averaged about 77.3 yards and 4.25 hangtime. On the season, the Eagles (Elliott) are averaging about 71.6 yards and 4.02 hangtime on legit deep kickoffs as compared to 70.5 yards and 4.17 hangtime for their opponents.

It looked like the Broncos were actually quicker with their place kicks than the Eagles. It's unusual when the Eagles are not the quicker team. Jake Elliott made all three of his field goal attempts. The expectancy of his attempts based on their distances was about 2.47. On the season, he's now 14-of-16 from distances with an expected value of about 12.9. So he's 1.1 to the good, meaning he's earned the Eagles about 3.3 above expected value. His Elo Kicking Rating improved to 2253, which now ranks 22nd in the league. The rating of Eagles Opponents dropped to 2265, which would rank 17th in the league. The league average is currently at 2253. The standard is 2200. The Top Five kickers are Gano (2384, 2.65 STD above the mean); Tucker (2374, 2.45); Boswell (2357, 2.10); Butker (2333, 1.61), and Koo (2323, 1.41). The Bottom Five are Badgley (2198, -1.08); Blankenship-IR (2190, -1.29); Ammendola (2189; -1.31); Santoso (since released) (2189, -1.31); and Ficken-IR (2177, -1.55).

Other stuff:

* Rick Lovato was called for a snap infraction on the Eagles first PAT, which forced Lovato to make the kick from 38 yards rather than 33.

* K'Von Wallace came very close to blocking the Broncos first PAT. And at a critical moment later in the game, the Eagles employed the exact same rush attempt and he got through in precisely the same manner, in this case actually blocking the critical field goal. The get off time for the Broncos on that kick was around 1.27, which is good, so it wasn't the fault of the center, holder, or kicker. But their blocking up front was just awful. Incidentally, I was worried initially about Alex Singleton trying to pick up the ball and return it because it wasn't initially clear to me if the ball was beyond the line of scrimmage at the time. If it had been, it would have been a live ball situation and if he had muffed up the recovery, the Broncos could have recovered the ball. Ultimately it didn't matter because it was still behind the line and Singleton did recover it, although apparently not cleanly. Overall, and excellent play by the Eagles special teams unit.

* Shaun Bradley had one of the special teams tackles of the year on a punt. Just a great hard hit.

* There was one horrible special teams play near the end of the first half. With the Broncos punting the ball from their own ten yard line, the Eagles figured to get the ball around midfield. Instead they wound up starting from their own fifteen after Zech McPhearson was called for a penalty. Incidentally, Reagor had a decent return on the punt. He initially hesitated like he often does, but it appeared that the light bulb went off in his head and he suddenly darted straight upfield. He eventually got eleven yards on the return. My impression was a positive one, that he was somehow responding to coaching that had been critical of his hesitating.

* On one of the Eagles punts, their coverage unit didn't do a good job. They allowed the Broncos return man to run sideways across the field and actually turn the corner for a decent gain. It was Wallace he missed the containment on the edge.

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Saints game. Lots of kicking in this one.

Arryn Siposs punted five times for the Eagles with an average of about 43.6 yards (from the line of scrimmage to where the ball actually went in the air) and 4.26 hangtime. Only one -- and it was a bomb -- had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Four of the five were hit outside the numbers. Blake Gillikin punted six times for the Saints. He averaged about 48.8 yards and 4.28 hangtime with three in the air for at least 4.5 seconds and two hit outside the numbers. The better statistical game goes to the Saints, putting Siposs's mark at 5-4-2 on the season.

On the season, Siposs is averaging 46.0 yards and 4.36 hangtime with 41% at 4.5 seconds and 61% hit to the numbers. Opponents are averaging 46.1 yards and 4.39 hangtime with 51% at 4.5 seconds and 46% hit to the numbers. It's pretty close between the Eagles and the opposition. 

As is almost always the case, the Eagles punting process was generally quicker than their opponents. I timed them usually around 1.9 seconds from snap to the punter's foot. The Saints were reasonably good -- better than many other teams -- at around 2.0 seconds. Maybe a bit slower on some.

Jake Elliott kicked off nine times. That's a great number of kickoffs for a team to have. With a number like that, you gotta feel you're winning the game because it means you're scoring a lot of points. He averaged about 68.7 yards and 4.12 hangtime. Excluding an onside kick in the final minute, Brett Maher kicked off six times for the Saints. He averaged about 64.8 yards and 4.12 hangtime. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 71.2 yards and 4.03 hangtime compared to 70.0 yards and 4.16 hangtime for the opponents.

Elliott made all four of his field goal attempts. The expected value of those attempts based on the respective distances was about 3.04. So he was +.96 on the day. On the season, he's now 18-of-20 from distances with an expectancy of about 15.96. That means he's earned the team about 6.12 points above expected value. The average distance of his twenty attempts is about 38.0 yards. The expectancy of a 38-yard kick is about 83%. So he's well above that mark too. Elliott's Elo Kicking Rating improved to 2271, which now ranks 14th in the league. The rating of Eagles Opponents improved to 2266, which would rank 17th in the league if he were an individual kicker rather than a composition of weekly opponents. The league average is 2250. The Top Five kickers after week 11 were Gano (2385, 2.53 STD above the mean); Tucker (2379, 2.41); Boswell (2363, 2.12); Butker (2323, 1.37); and Folk (2314, 1.20). The Bottom Five are/were Blankenship-IR (2190, -1.11); Ficken-IR (2177, -1.35); Ammendola (2162, -1.63); Rosas* (2160, -1.67); and Maher (2141, -2.02). *Rosas was elevated from the practice squad for the game and was subsequently sent down so he would no longer qualify for this list as he's not really on an active roster.

Other stuff:

* Jalen Reagor fielded a punt at the four yard line and returned it to the fifteen. I thought it was a decent gamble to field it rather than hope it goes into the endzone for a touchback. Some others would argue but I didn't mind it at all since he had room to run.

* Shaun Bradley made a solid tackle on an Eagles punt.

* I liked the way that Reagor came up to field a low Saints punt. He ended up getting about a dozen yards before going out of bounds. I still think he's done a good job with his decision making as a punt returner this year. I thought that was a weakness last year. There's a definite improvement from him on punt returns even though he hasn't broken any big ones...yet.

* Greg Ward and Jack Stoll were flagged for an illegal double team block on an Eagles kickoff return early in the fourth quarter. I found this interesting because before the play, the two of them gathered together (I was at the game, sitting in that endzone and witnessed this with my own eyes) between the hashmarks and spent a few seconds discussing something before they both returned to their respective positions on the field. We obviously don't know what was discussed but we have to assume it was some planning on their part, planning that ended up being poorly executed.

* I was absolutely delighted that the Saints chose to kick a field goal with about seven and a half minutes to go down fourteen points.

* Dallas Goedert fielded an onside kick in the final minute. He got a nice easy hop.

* I have to give the Saints credit on their fourth quarter kickoffs. They intentionally hit the ball short of the goal line forcing the Eagles to return them. Smart.

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Giants game.

Arryn Siposs punted only three times for the Eagles. He averaged about 43.3 yards and 4.58 hangtime. One had at least 4.5 seconds while two were hit outside the numbers. Riley Dixon punted five times for the Giants with an average of about 36.0 yards and only 37.6 hangtime. Only one had at least 4.5 seconds of hangtime and only one was hit outside the numbers. The better statistical game goes to Siposs, putting his mark at 6-4-2 on the season.

Through twelve games, Siposs is averaging 45.8 yards and 4.37 hangtime with 41% at 4.5 seconds or more and 61% hit outside the numbers. Opponents are averaging about 45.0 yards and 4.32 hangtime with 48% at 4.5 seconds or more and 43% hit outside the numbers. The Giants game really did a number of the opposing teams numbers. They were not good.

In addition to not being particularly good with their punting, their punt mechanics were also slower than the Eagles. This is hardly unprecedented. The Giants are traditionally one of the slowest teams I time. Their last punt was very quick because they were in "just get it off quickly and don't risk a punt being blocked" mode, but their other punts were over 2.1 seconds from snap to foot. The Eagles times were under 1.95.

Jake Elliott only kicked off twice. He averaged 68.0 yards and 3.57 hangtime. His kickoff in the fourth quarter was quite the line drive. . Graham Gano kicked off four times, but his first kick was an intentionally short kick which didn't meet the standards necessary for inclusion into the cumulative data. His three "legit" kickoffs averaged about 65.7 yards and 4.11 hangtime. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 71.1 yards and 4.02 hangtime. Opponents are averaging about 69.7 yards and 4.16 hangtime. The disparity seems like it has settled comfortably into "Eagles are hitting it deeper but not nearly as high" territory.

Elliott didn't attempt any field goals, so his Elo Kicking Rating remains at 2271, which now ranks thirteenth in the league. With Gano missing a field goal, the rating of Eagles Opponents dropped a bit to 2255, which would rank twenty-second. The league average after twelve weeks is 2250. The Top Five Kickers are Tucker (2388, 2.67 STD above the mean); Gano (2368, 2.28); Boswell (2367, 2.26); Butker (2323, 1.41); and Folk (2311, 1.18). The Bottom Five Kickers are McLaughlin (2208, -0.82); Blankenship-IR (2190, -1.17); Ficken-IR (2177, -1.92); Ammendola (2152, -1.90); and Maher (2141, -2.12).

Other stuff:

* The Eagles switched kickoff return formations for this game. Instead of having only one return man deep, they split two returners. Presumably this was done in an attempt to limit the effectiveness of the other teams strategy of intentionally kicking it short and forcing the Eagles to return the ball unsuccessfully. I'm afraid this is probably going to be the strategy going forward for other teams.

* After the Giants went ahead 10-0, their kickoff was fielded at the two yard line by Kenneth Gainwell, who by the time he was at the twelve yard line was faced with FIVE Giants players who were in position to make the tackle. The Eagles blocking on kick returns has been atrocious all year.

* Rick Lovato's snap on the lone Eagles PAT was uncomfortably high.

* After kicking it short on their first kickoff, Gano's last kickoff was again kicked short. As I said earlier, this appears to be a "thing".

* The Jets kicker isn't very good so I suspect he's going to have a really good game tomorrow. That's what happens when you kick against the Eagles.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Jets game. I've had this ready to go for awhile now but was too lazy to post it til now.

Arryn Siposs only punted once for about 38 yards and 4.47 hangtime. The punt was hit outside the numbers. Braden Mann punted only twice for the Jets. He averaged about 37.0 yards and 4.27 hangtime. One of the two had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. One was hit outside the numbers while the other was not. The better statistical game goes to the Eagles punter, putting his mark at 7-4-2 on the season.

On the season, Siposs is averaging about 45.7 yards and 4.37 hangtime with 40% of his punts in the air for at least 4.5 seconds and 62% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 44.6 yards and 4.31 hangtime with 48% at 4.5 seconds and 43% hit outside the numbers. Definite advantage for our team.

In this game, the Jets punt mechanics were slower than the Eagles. About 2.1 seconds from snap to the ball striking the foot of the punter as compared to a little under 2.0 seconds for the Eagles.

Jake Elliott kicked off a lot. He had eight kickoffs with an average of about 68.6 yards and 3.97 hangtime. Alex Kessman kicked off four times for the Jets with an average of about 62.5 yards and 4.10 hangtime. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 70.8 yards and 4.01 hangtime on his legitimate deep kickoffs while opponents are averaging about 69.3 yards and 4.16 hangtime on theirs. Better distance for the Eagles but without as much height, which supports my theory that opposing teams are trying to hit it shorter and higher, forcing the Eagles to return the ball, knowing that they're not good at it.

The time on placekicks for both teams were pretty good. Right around 1.3 seconds from snap to foot. The Jets may have actually been a bit quicker, and perhaps that's the reason the rookie kicker missed both of his PAT attempts. He might have rushed his process a bit.

Elliott made all four of his field goal attempts. The expectancy of the distances of those kicks was about 3.27. So he made .73 more than would have been expected. On the season, he's now 22-of-24 from distances with an expectancy of about 19.2. So he's made about 2.8 more than expected, which means he's earned the Eagles about 8.4 points beyond the standard. These are very good numbers. Not quite "elite" (think Justin Tucker level) but Top Ten caliber. Elliott's kicking rating improved to 2284, which after the subsequent bye week put him 12th in the league. He's about 0.57 standard deviations about the average. The rating of Eagles Opponents remains at 2255, which would rank 22nd in the league. The league average at this point is 2255. The Top Five kickers after Week 14 are Tucker (2402, 2.89 STD above the mean); Gano (2359, 2.04); Boswell (2355, 1.97); Butker (2345, 1.77); and Folk (2316, 1.20). The Bottom Five kickers are Crosby and McLaughlin (2195, -1.17); Badgley (2192, -1.23); Blankenship-IR (2190, -1.27); Ficken-IR (2177, -1.53); and Maher (2148; -2.09). I really should probably stop including Ficken in this list but I think I'm pot committed at this point.

Other stuff:

* The opening kickoff was a disaster with the Eagles coverage unit. Marcus Epps made a nice play to save a touchdown...temporarily. 

* Jalen Reagor made an inexplicably terrible and really inexcusable play on a kickoff when he casually allowed the kickoff to sail over his head rather than field it. He assumed the ball would bound into the endzone for a touchback. The problem was that he was standing on the five yard line rather than the end line when he made that assumption. Instead the ball landed inside the one and stayed in the field of play, necessitating him hustling back and picking up the ball. When the dust cleared, the Eagles had to begin their possession at the 7-yard line.

* Reagor subsequently made a smart decision when he hustled up to field a short Jets punt but he ended up botching it at the same time. He failed to secure the catch and had to rescue the ball again. This time he actually made a pretty good return.

* Not surprisingly, Reagor was removed from kickoff return duties in the second half, yielding his spot to Boston Scott. His return was another crappy play for the Eagles kickoff team. He only managed to get the ball out to the fifteen yard line after fielding it at the two. The Eagles blocking on returns is just horrendous, certainly when compared to the blocking that opposing teams manage against the Eagles in virtually identical situations.

* Siposs wouldn't have punted at all if not for the fact that Nate Herbig sailed a ball over Gardner Minshew's head on a third down snap in the final couple of minutes. The Eagles would have run an offensive play on fourth down if not for the fact that it ended up being fourth and a mile.

* The Jets cut their rookie kicker a couple days later. I felt sorry for the kid.

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Tuesday Night Game with the Washington team formerly known as the Redskins.

Arryn Siposs punted twice. They were both pooch punts from Washington territory. He averaged about 35.0 yards and 4.26 hangtime. One was hit outside the numbers. Neither had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Tress Way punted five times for Washington. He averaged about 48.4 yards and 4.43 hangtime. Only one had a hangtime of 4.5 seconds or more, and only one was hit outside the numbers.

On the season, Siposs is averaging 45.2 yards and 4.37 hangtime with 38% at 4.5 seconds and 62% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 45.0 yards and 4.33 hangtime with 45% at 4.5 seconds and 41% hit outside the numbers. Overall advantage to the Eagles.

The snap to foot times on Washington's punts were average-ish, though one was was particularly slow because of a weirdly high snap. They've had snapping problems all year long with a rookie draftee doing their snapping. I couldn't get the Eagles punt times but I assume they were consistent with what they usually do, which would be faster than their opponent.

Jake Elliott kicked off six times with an average of about 68.7 yards and 4.10 hangtime. Brian Johnson kicked off four times but the kickoff to start the second half had to be excluded because it was a line drive, and there's no point in cataloging those because they are meaningless. His three other kickoffs averaged about 60.3 yards and 3.67 hangtime. Not particularly good, though you'd never know it from the results. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 70.6 yards and 4.02 hangtime on his deep kickoffs compared to 68.8 yards and 4.13 hangtime by the opponents. Basically about two yards deeper with a tenth of a second less hangtime. I'll take it.

Elliott made both of his field goal attempts from distances with an expectancy of about 1.83. On the season, he's now 24-of-26 from distances with an expectancy of about 21.0. So he's earned about nine points above expected value on 26 kicks. That's very good. His Elo Kicking Rating improved to 2287, which now ranks 12th in the league. The rating of Eagles Opponents remains at 2255, which would rank 22nd. The league average is 2256. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2403, 2.85 STD above the mean); Gano (2363, 2.07); Boswell (2348, 1.78); Butker (2347, 1.76); and Koo (2319, 1.22). The Bottom Five kickers are Blankenship-IR (2190, -1.90); Badgley (2183, -1.43); McLaughlin (2179, -1.51); Ficken-IR (2177, -1.84); and Maher (2165, -1.78).

Other stuff:

* Kenneth Gainwell is our new kickoff returner. He at least showed a little juice on one of his returns. The others were meh.

* The Eagles allowed a significant kickoff return by DeAndre Carter late in the first half but the return was mitigated by a penalty. Still, it was poor coverage. I would target the blame to Zech McPhearson and Andre Chachere. The latter seemed confused and appeared to be trying to chase down a blocker rather than the kick returner. It was weird, and it left a gaping hole that was quickly exploited.

* When the Eagles went up 20-10 and they kickoff off very late in the third quarter, there was another return by Washington that was more successful for them that it ought to have been. They got it out to the 31 yard line (and proceeded to march 69 yards for a score that made the game a bit uncomfortable). When the return man got to the fifteen yard line, the closest Eagles defender was about ten yards away and all of the Eagles defenders were being blocked. There was a significant crease that was exploited. When you compare the coverage to the coverage that opponents get against the Eagles, it's not nearly as good.

* On Washington's final kickoff, when Gainwell got to the fifteen , there was a Washington defender about three yards away with four of his teammates in excellent position about nine yards away. Gainwell was quickly engulfed. In short, our blocking on kick returns is consistently bad.

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3 hours ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Tuesday Night Game with the Washington team formerly known as the Redskins.

Arryn Siposs punted twice. They were both pooch punts from Washington territory. He averaged about 35.0 yards and 4.26 hangtime. One was hit outside the numbers. Neither had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Tress Way punted five times for Washington. He averaged about 48.4 yards and 4.43 hangtime. Only one had a hangtime of 4.5 seconds or more, and only one was hit outside the numbers.

On the season, Siposs is averaging 45.2 yards and 4.37 hangtime with 38% at 4.5 seconds and 62% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 45.0 yards and 4.33 hangtime with 45% at 4.5 seconds and 41% hit outside the numbers. Overall advantage to the Eagles.

The snap to foot times on Washington's punts were average-ish, though one was was particularly slow because of a weirdly high snap. They've had snapping problems all year long with a rookie draftee doing their snapping. I couldn't get the Eagles punt times but I assume they were consistent with what they usually do, which would be faster than their opponent.

Jake Elliott kicked off six times with an average of about 68.7 yards and 4.10 hangtime. Brian Johnson kicked off four times but the kickoff to start the second half had to be excluded because it was a line drive, and there's no point in cataloging those because they are meaningless. His three other kickoffs averaged about 60.3 yards and 3.67 hangtime. Not particularly good, though you'd never know it from the results. On the season, Elliott is averaging about 70.6 yards and 4.02 hangtime on his deep kickoffs compared to 68.8 yards and 4.13 hangtime by the opponents. Basically about two yards deeper with a tenth of a second less hangtime. I'll take it.

Elliott made both of his field goal attempts from distances with an expectancy of about 1.83. On the season, he's now 24-of-26 from distances with an expectancy of about 21.0. So he's earned about nine points above expected value on 26 kicks. That's very good. His Elo Kicking Rating improved to 2287, which now ranks 12th in the league. The rating of Eagles Opponents remains at 2255, which would rank 22nd. The league average is 2256. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2403, 2.85 STD above the mean); Gano (2363, 2.07); Boswell (2348, 1.78); Butker (2347, 1.76); and Koo (2319, 1.22). The Bottom Five kickers are Blankenship-IR (2190, -1.90); Badgley (2183, -1.43); McLaughlin (2179, -1.51); Ficken-IR (2177, -1.84); and Maher (2165, -1.78).

Other stuff:

* Kenneth Gainwell is our new kickoff returner. He at least showed a little juice on one of his returns. The others were meh.

* The Eagles allowed a significant kickoff return by DeAndre Carter late in the first half but the return was mitigated by a penalty. Still, it was poor coverage. I would target the blame to Zech McPhearson and Andre Chachere. The latter seemed confused and appeared to be trying to chase down a blocker rather than the kick returner. It was weird, and it left a gaping hole that was quickly exploited.

* When the Eagles went up 20-10 and they kickoff off very late in the third quarter, there was another return by Washington that was more successful for them that it ought to have been. They got it out to the 31 yard line (and proceeded to march 69 yards for a score that made the game a bit uncomfortable). When the return man got to the fifteen yard line, the closest Eagles defender was about ten yards away and all of the Eagles defenders were being blocked. There was a significant crease that was exploited. When you compare the coverage to the coverage that opponents get against the Eagles, it's not nearly as good.

* On Washington's final kickoff, when Gainwell got to the fifteen , there was a Washington defender about three yards away with four of his teammates in excellent position about nine yards away. Gainwell was quickly engulfed. In short, our blocking on kick returns is consistently bad.

Franklin, regarding your bolded comment above, do you care to elaborate?

One possible addition to your already superb weekly report could be the starting position of each team after the each of the game's kickoffs.

Also could you post the top 15 kickers at some time in the coming hours/days/weeks?

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34 minutes ago, mattwill said:

Franklin, regarding your bolded comment above, do you care to elaborate?

One possible addition to your already superb weekly report could be the starting position of each team after the each of the game's kickoffs.

Also could you post the top 15 kickers at some time in the coming hours/days/weeks?

Basically, our kickoffs are better than theirs but when the ball is actually returned, the other team seems to always return the ball farther than we do. It's obvious and it is annoying.

1. Tucker

2. Gano

3. Boswell

4. Butker

5. Koo

6. Folk

7. Gay

8. Prater

9.McManus

10. Carlson

11.Myers

12. ELLIOTT

13. Hopkins

14. Fairbairn

15. Zuerlein

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43 minutes ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

Basically, our kickoffs are better than theirs but when the ball is actually returned, the other team seems to always return the ball farther than we do. It's obvious and it is annoying.

1. Tucker

2. Gano

3. Boswell

4. Butker

5. Koo

6. Folk

7. Gay

8. Prater

9.McManus

10. Carlson

11.Myers

12. ELLIOTT

13. Hopkins

14. Fairbairn

15. Zuerlein

Thanks

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29 minutes ago, mattwill said:

Any thoughts on the new Practice Squad signing Matt McCrane?

He's bad. Had him ranked 33rd in the league in 2108. Only 8 of 12. Was with three teams.

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A look at the Giants game.

Arryn Siposs punted four times for the Eagles. He averaged about 42.3 yards and 4.13 hangtime. Only one (the last one) had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Three of the four were hit outside the numbers. Riley DIxon punted eight times for the Giants. He averaged only 34.5 yards and 4.07 hangtime. He punted three times from Eagles territory so it's understandable that his distances were short, but even his longer punts were short...if that makes sense. Three of his punts had 4.5 seconds of hangtime. Four were hit outside the numbers. The better statistical day goes to Siposs, putting his mark at 8-5-2 on the season.

Through fifteen games, Siposs is averaging about 45.0 yards and 4.35 hangtime with 37% at 4.5 seconds or more and 63% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 43.6 yards and 4.29 hangtime with 44% at 4.5 seconds and 42% hit outside the numbers. Definite advantage to the Eagles.

The Eagles were consistently quicker with their punting process. Always under two seconds. The Giants, on the other hand, were always over two seconds and around 2.1 on more than one occasion. Their last punt was closer to 2.2 seconds. It's weird, but the Giants have just not impressed me with their punting game over the past decade or so. Their punter is never a standout (unlike, say, Washington) and their snaps never look crisp.

Jake Elliott kicked off seven times. He averaged about 68.9 yards and 4.15 hangtime. Graham Gano kicked off three times for the Giants but only the first one was worthy of being included into the database. His second kickoff was intentionally short and his final was an onside attempt. Gano's "average" for the game was 65.0 yards and 4.05 hangtime.

On the season, Elliott is averaging about 70.4 yards (that's more than halfway into the endzone) and 4.03 hangtime. Opponents are averaging about 68.8 yards and 4.13 hangtime. The other team is hitting it higher and shorter, clearly by design.

Elliott made two of his three field goal attempts. The expected value of his attempts, based on the distances, was about 2.6. On the season, he's now 26-of-29 from distances with an expectancy of about 23.66. So he''s made 2.34 more than expected, meaning he's earned the team about 7.0 points more than expected. His Elo Kicking Rating dropped to 2269, which now ranks 16th in the league. He's about .36 standard deviations above the mean. His average attempt distance is 36.9 yards. From that distance, the expectancy is about 84.5%. He's at 89.7% The rating of Eagles Opponents improved to 2265, which would rank 17th in the league. That's .28 standard deviations above the mean. The league average is at 2251. The Top Five kickers are Tucker (2403, 3.00 STD+); Gano (2369, 2.33); Butker (2347, 1.90); Koo (2331, 1.58); and Boswell (2337, 1.50). The Bottom Five kickers are Blankenship-IR (2190, -1.19); Badgley (2180, -1.39); McLaughlin (2179, -1.41); Ficken-IR (2177, -1.45); and Maher (2170, -1.59)

Other stuff:

* Kenneth Gainwell fumbled the opening kickoff but the ball took a fortunate bounce and was recovered by Arcega-Whiteside. That's the third time this year that he's put the ball on the ground. Not good.

* On the Eagles first punt, Andre Chachere was flagged for illegal touching. It was an unnecessary and stupid act. The ball was just sitting there on the ground and he felt the need to "down it". However, he had run out of bounds on his trip down the field, and as such, he cannot be the first person to touch the ball. It's a penalty. What's odd is that early in the year he had made an incredibly smart play in a similar situation when he had run out of bounds and made a point to NOT touch the ball first. So it's obvious he knows the rule. Yet he did something dumb here. Weird.

* On the Giants second kickoff, they intentionally hit the ball short. The Eagles had two deep returners so they should be in good position to field any ball hit to them. Yet the Eagles still allowed the ball to hit the ground rather than catch it in the air. It was Gainwell. Fortunately the ball took a kind hop and it worked out okay. But I'm still left with an unsettling sensation about our kick return game. 

* Rick Lovato had a poor snap on the Eagles first field goal attempt. This is about the third or fourth snap this year that has been decidedly off the mark. I would venture to say that he's been having the worst season of his Eagles career this year. Siposs did a nice job of getting the ball spotted, but Elliott missed the kick anyway. I presume the bad snap negatively impacted his kick somehow.

* Jalen Reagor nearly called for a fair catch on his big punt return. I swear I saw him start to raise his hand and then suddenly pull it back. Granted I don't think it was a fair catch signal, but it's something the official might have interpreted as such. At any rate, the play turned out nicely for the Eagles. That was Reagor's best return of the year.

* The Eagles attempted one of their PATs from the left hash mark for some reason. I wonder why.

* DeVonta Smith easily recovered the Giants onside kick late in the game.

* Joe Judge is an ass for calling timeouts with three minutes left in a game his team is losing by 24 points. Just end the game gracefully at that point and don't risk injury to your team or the other team.

 

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Washington game.

Arryn Siposs punted twice for the Eagles. Both were from Redskins territory and had no room for distance punting. He averaged about 37.0 yards and 4.41 hangtime on those two punts, both of which were hit outside the numbers. Tress Way is probably my favorite punter in the league, if grown-ups can actually have "favorites". Fortunately for the Eagles, he was inactive and was replaced by Ryan Winslow. He punted twice and averaged about 42.0 yards and 4.42 hangtime. One was over 4.5 seconds. One was not. Both were hit outside the numbers. The better statistical day goes to Washington's punter, primarily because he had a full field to work with. On the season, Siposs is now 8-6-2 in his theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the opposing punter.

On the season, Siposs is averaging 44.7 yards and 4.35 hangtime with 36% at 4.5 seconds and 64% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters are averaging about 43.5 yards and 4.29 hangtime with 44% at 4.5 seconds and also 44% hit outside the numbers. Better distance and hangtime for the Eagles punter and also more directionality. Only slightly less hangtime consistency. Overall, good.

Jake Elliott kicked off five times. He averaged about 71.0 yards (that six yards into the endzone) and 4.01 hangtime. Joey Slye kicked off five times but one was a squib at the end of the first half. His four deep kickoffs averaged about 69.8 yards and 4.29 hangime. Significantly more height on his kicks than Elliott. On the season, the Eagles (Elliott) are averaging about 70.5 yards and 4.03 hangtime. Opponents are averaging about 68.8 yards and 4.14 hangtime. 

Elliott made both of his field goal attempts (dangit, I really thought that first one was going wide) from distances with an expectancy of about 1.55. On the season, he's now 28-of-31 from distances with an expectancy of about 25.21. So he's made about 2.79 more than expected, which means he's earned the Eagles about 8.37 points above value on 31 attempts. That's a good ratio, probably a top ten ratio. (I'll work on that stuff eventually. It's time consuming.) Elliott's Elo Kicking Rating improved to 2277, which is tied for fourteenth in the league. He's about .40 standard deviations above the mean. The rating of Eagles Opponents improved to 2279, which would rank thirteenth if he were an individual rather than an imaged amalgam of different guys. That rating is about .43 standard deviations above the mean. The league average is at 2257. The standard is 2200. The current Top Five Kickers are Tucker (2408,  +2.98); Gano (2371, +2.25); Butker (2348, +1.80); Boswell (2338, +1.60); and Koo (2332, +1.48). The Bottom Five kickers are Blankenship-IR (2190, -1.32); Hajrullahu (2188, -1.36); Maher (2186, -1.40); McLaughlin (2179, -1.54); and Ficken-IR (2177, -1.58).

Other stuff:

* Terrible coverage on the opening kickoff, with the Washington returner bringing out to the 33.

* Kenny Gainwell made a horrible decision on his kickoff return, taking the ball from two yards deep and only getting it to the twenty. That cost the team a free five yards. The kick was pretty high. It was in the endzone. Just take a knee. Incidentally by the time he was at the fifteen there was a defender right next to him and another only a few yards away. He never had much of a chance.

* Did anyone actually think Slye was going to miss that 55-yarder at the end of the first half? I sure didn't, especially after he shanked his practice try. Opposing kickers just don't miss long kicks against us.

* Did anyone else notice that Siposs hesitated slightly on his second pooch punt? It seemed like there might have been something "on" that he could have done to try to get the first down.

* On the last Eagles field goal, the snap from Lovato was a bit high. It feels like it's getting to the point where once a game one of his snaps is off target. I think it's accurate to say he's having the worst season of his career with the Eagles. He's just off a bit somehow. 

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Cowboys finale that no one cared about.

Arryn Siposs had his worst game as a pro. He punted three times, all from Eagles territory inside the thirty yard line. So he had a lot of field to work with. Yet he only averaged about 29.3 yards with 4.14 hangtime. None of his three punts was in the air for at least 4.5 seconds. Two were hit outside the numbers. Bryan Anger punted only once for the Cowboys for 45 yards and 4.02 hangtime. It was not hit outside the numbers. The better statistical day goes to the Dallas punter -- by a wide margin. On the season, Siposs was 8-7-2 in his theoretical 1-on-1 battle with the opposing punter.

Through the regular season, Siposs averaged about 43.9 yards and 4.34 hangtime with 34% at 4.5 seconds or more and 64% hit outside the numbers. Opposing punters averaged about 43.6 yards and 4.29 hangtime with 44% at 4.5 seconds and 44% hit outside the numbers. Fairly similar numbers all around, I'd say.

As is almost always the case, the Eagles were quicker with their punting mechanics than their opponents. From Lovato's hand til the moment the ball left the foot of Siposs was around 1.9 seconds. Dallas's time was around 2.1.

Jake Elliott kicked off six times. He averaged about 67.2 yards (only two yards into the endzone) and 3.84 hangtime. Greg Zuerlein kicked off nine (way too many) times. He averaged about 67.3 yards and 3.95 hangtime. On the season, Elliott averaged about 70.3 yards and 4.02 hangtime. Opponents averaged about 68.6 yards and 4.12 hangtime.

Elliott made his only two field goal attempts from distances with an expectancy of about 1.63. He finished the season 30-of-33 from distances with an expectancy of 26.84. So he made 3.16 more than expected for an added 9.48 points. His average attempt distance was 37.3, which is more than a full yard less than the league average of 38.6. His Elo Kicking rating improved to 2283, which ranks 13th in the league. That's .48 standard deviations above the mean. The rating of Eagles Opponent improved to 2285, which would rank 13th as well. The league average is 2258. The standard is 2200. The Top Five kickers through the regular season are Tucker (2410, +2.90 STD); Gano (2371, +2.16); Butker (2355, +1.86); Koo (2344, +1.65); and Boswell (2343; 1.63). The Bottom Five were Hajrullahu (2191, -1.27); Blankenship-IR (2190, -1.29); McLaughlin (2179, -1.50); Ficken-IR (2177, -1.53); and Maher (2173, -1.61).

Other stuff:

* Jason Huntley returned kickoffs and actually looked good at it. I liked the way he made his moves while still maintaining forward movement. He wasn't stopping and juking like Reagor. I also liked the way he finished his runs. Good job. I'm not sure it's worth keeping him on the active roster for, but at least he did well when called upon.

* This may be a bit random, but I thought the Cowboys holder was a bit deliberate. The whole Dallas kicking process was kinda slow. I'm hoping that will bite them in the ass at some point in the playoffs.

* The Cowboys got away with a delay of game on their only punt. The clock was at zero a full beat before the ball was snapped.

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I keep track of every field goal attempt by every kicker in the league. At the conclusion of the season, I took a couple of hours to go through all of the data to rank the kickers based solely on what they did THIS YEAR. The regular Elo Kicking Ratings that I talk about carry previous years effectiveness into the calculations, although it certainly is heavily influenced by recent events.

This is the ranking of how each kicker (with 10 or more attempts) did THIS YEAR. If two kickers make 90% of their attempts, but one's attempts are a few yards deeper, he'll obviously rank higher. The ranking is a blend of distance and percentage.

1) Brian Johnson (10 of 10 from 31.2)

2) Justin Tucker (35 of 37 from 40.5)

3) Matt Gay (32 of 34 from 37.9)

4) Zane Gonzalez (20 of 22 from 41.2)

5) Daniel Carlson (40 of 43 from 37.8)

6) Younghoe Koo (27 of 29 from 37.6)

7) Nick Folk (35 of 38 from 39.1)

8) Riley Patterson (13 of 14 from 37.6)

9) Harrison Butker (25 of 28 from 41.4)

10) Joey Slye (23 of 25 from 37.2)

11) Chris Boswell (36 of 40 from 39.6)

12) Graham Gano (29 of 33 from 40.7)

13) JAKE ELLIOTT (30 of 33 from 37.3)

14) Evan McPherson (28 of 33 from 41.8)

15) Austin Seibert (10 of 12 from 42.7)

16) Dustin Hopkins (30 of 34 from 38.1)

17) Greg Joseph (33 of 38 from 39.2)

18) Robbie Gould (20 of 23 from 38.6)

19) Matthew Wright (21 of 24 from 37.2)

20) Brett Maher (16 of 18 from 35.8)

21) Brandon McManus (26 of 31 from 40.1)

22) Cairo Santos (26 of 30 from 37.0)

23) Greg Zuerlein (29 of 35 from 39.3)

24) Randy Bullock (26 of 31 from 38.0)

25) Matt Prater (30 of 37 from 39.0)

26) Tyler Bass (28 of 32 from 34.0)

27) Michael Badgley (18 of 22 from 38.2)

28) Ka'imi Fairbairn (15 of 19 from 39.7)

29) Rodrigo Blankenship (11 of 14 from 38.4)

30) Ryan Succop (25 of 30 from 34.9)

31) Jason Sanders (23 of 31 from 40.2)

32) Jason Myers (17 of 23 from 40.1)

33) Chase McLaughlin (15 of 21 from 40.1)

34) Mason Crosby (25 of 34 from 37.0)

35) Matt Ammendola (13 of 19 from 37.3)

So as we can see, our own Jake Elliott was in the upper half. But I think it's fair to say that the notion that he was somehow elite this year is a bit misplaced. Yeah, he was pretty good. He was better than average. He only missed three field goals. But there were a number of kickers who missed fewer than that. And there were a lot of kickers who had much longer attempts. Am I happy with his performance? Yes. Do I think he's probably the best kicker the Eagles have ever had? Again, yes. But I also think it's a bit much for Eagles fans to argue that he's one of the league's top kickers.

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Here's another ranking of all of the league's kickers based solely on THIS YEAR. This ranking is sorted by the efficiency based on how many points above expected value they earned their team per attempt. Again, this is only this year's data. I find it oddly satisfying that the top ranked kicker in this metric is the kicker than everyone who watches football just "knows" is the best in the league. In the history of the league actually.

1) Justin Tucker .565

2) Zane Gonzalez .501

3) Harrison Butker .431

4) Matt Gay .420

5) Nick Folk .416

6) Younghoe Koo .387

7) Daniel Carlson .382

8) Chris Boswell .381

9) Brian Johnson .374

10) Graham Gano .361

11) Riley Patterson .348

12) Joey Slye .346

13) Evan McPherson .335

14) JAKE ELLIOTT .287

15) Greg Joseph .261

16) Austin Seibert .261

17) Brandon McManus .251

18) Dustin Hopkins .251

19) Robbie Gould .240

20) Matthew Wright .232

21) Cairo Santos .183

22) Matt Prater .144

23) Greg Zuerlein .142

24) Brett Maher .139

25) Ka'imi Fairbairn .101

26) Tyler Bass .090

27) Randy Bullock .075

28) Michael Badgley .026

29) Ryan Succop -.036

30) Rodrigo Blankenship -.048

31) Jason Sanders -.056

32) Jason Myers -.120

33) Chase McLaughlin -.127

34) Mason Crosby -.253

35) Matt Ammendola -.355

 

 

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  • 5 months later...

This has been sitting on my desk for months. Playoff game against the Bucs.

Arryn Siposs punted six times with an average of about 40.2 yards and 4.19 hangtime. Only two of the six had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Three of the six were hit outside the numbers. Bradley Pinion punted seven times (that's surprising it was so many) with an average of about 43.7 yards and 4.23 hangtime. Only two of the seven had a hangtime of at least 4.5 seconds. Five of the seven were hit outside the numbers. The better statistical day goes to Pinion, putting Siposs mark at 8-8-2 on the season.

On the season (all eighteen real games), Siposs averaged about 43.5 yards and 4.33 hangtime with 34% at 4.5 seconds and 63% hit outside the numbers. Opponents averaged about 43.6 yards and 4.28 hangtime with 42% at 4.5 seconds and 42% hit outside the numbers. It looks to me like other teams weren't especially concerned about punting the ball to the middle of the field since they (understandably) didn't feel threatened by the Eagles return game.

Jake Elliott kicked off three times but the final one was an onside attempt. His two deep kickoffs averaged 67.0 yards and 4.10 hangtime. Pinion kicked off six times with an average of about 65.7 yards and 4.17 hangtime. On the season (eighteen games), Elliott averaged about 70.2 yards and 4.02 hangtime compared to his opponents average of 68.4 yards and 4.12 hangtime. Definite distance advantage for Elliott with a clear height disadvantage.

The only observation I have on placekick attempts is that the Bucs were notably slow.

Other stuff:

* Siposs shanked his first punt. It looked like he took a weird extra first step. This was his second shank in as many weeks after having been pretty decent for the most part.

* Josiah Scott made a solid tackle on a punt.

* TJ Edwards made an excellent tackle on a punt.

* There is something wrong with your return game scheme when a kickoff with 3.94 hangtime (not good but not horrible either) that lands at the one yard line leads to the return man facing opponents only two yards away from him by the time he reaches the fifteen yard line. On the play, Gainwell was smothered at the seventeen. 

* On a short punt by the Bucs, Reagor was unable to field the ball and he correctly let it go. It wound up taking a favorable bounce for the Bucs. That's just bad luck.

* With about twenty seconds left in the first half and the Eagles looking to get pretty good field position with a chance to maybe score some points before the half, Reagor allowed a punt to fly over his head and roll for eleven more yards. Bad job.

* Down 17-0 and maybe getting a chance to finally do something, Reagor made a disastrous play on a punt. He awkwardly lunged at the ball at the last second, muffed it, and all hope was lost at that point. Granted it was windy, and he really hadn't made any boneheaded plays all year long as far as catching punts was concerned, but that's just unforgivable. 

* Josiah Scott made another good tackle on a punt.

* Reagor actually had a good punt return when the score was 31-0. How exciting!

* Reagor muffed a punt late in the game when it was 31-6. 

* Statistically Siposs had the best year of any Eagles punter since 2017. 

* Elliott's kickoff distance was the best of his career but his hangtime was his worst.

* I have no idea who's going to be our punt returner next year. 

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  • 1 month later...

I reckon we’re looking at another season where our kickoff coverage is going to be putrid. The first couple of kickoffs were hit high and intentionally short with the idea of swarming the returner before he can get untracked. It’s a valid strategy that is often employed successfully by other NFL teams. Instead, the Jets rip off pretty good returns, making the Eagles look silly.

So with the game on the line (okay it’s a preseason game and it doesn’t really matter, but still) they kick it five yards into the end zone...and they let the guy take it to midfield. Disgusting.

I’m probably more annoyed about that play than anything else that happened in the game.

 

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On 8/12/2022 at 8:03 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

I reckon we’re looking at another season where our kickoff coverage is going to be putrid. The first couple of kickoffs were hit high and intentionally short with the idea of swarming the returner before he can get untracked. It’s a valid strategy that is often employed successfully by other NFL teams. Instead, the Jets rip off pretty good returns, making the Eagles look silly.

So with the game on the line (okay it’s a preseason game and it doesn’t really matter, but still) they kick it five yards into the end zone...and they let the guy take it to midfield. Disgusting.

I’m probably more annoyed about that play than anything else that happened in the game.

 

It's pretty common for coverage teams to look pitiful in the first week of preseason. I agree that they were bad, but I wouldn't panic unless it continues into the first couple weeks of the regular season. 

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Guest justrelax
On 8/12/2022 at 11:03 PM, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

I reckon we’re looking at another season where our kickoff coverage is going to be putrid. The first couple of kickoffs were hit high and intentionally short with the idea of swarming the returner before he can get untracked. It’s a valid strategy that is often employed successfully by other NFL teams. Instead, the Jets rip off pretty good returns, making the Eagles look silly.

So with the game on the line (okay it’s a preseason game and it doesn’t really matter, but still) they kick it five yards into the end zone...and they let the guy take it to midfield. Disgusting.

I’m probably more annoyed about that play than anything else that happened in the game.

 

I couldn't get a read on the numbers of the players on that last kickoff but the lane discipline was dreadful. And no hustle. I believe it was a bunch of scrubs, few if any of which will make the team.

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It's preseason, so I ain't gonna spend too much time on this. I didn't even bother to time the kicks and punts by the Jets. I did observe, however, that their snapper was a little inaccurate on his short snaps.

Also, who else remembers that Jake Elliott sat out two preseason games last year and Arryn Siposs was forced into double duty? I sure forgot. Only noticed it when I was inputting the numbers into the spreadsheet and saw last year's data.

Arryn Siposs punted five times for the Eagles. He averaged about 46.2 yards and 4.52 seconds hangtime. Three of the five had times over 4.5 seconds. Overall a solid game.

Jake Elliott kicked off four times. If this were a regular season game, I would omit the third kickoff from the totals since it was kicked so short. But eh, I'll include it now. His four kickoffs averaged only 61.3 yards but had a very good 4.40 hangtime. It was obvious that the Eagles wanted to kick the ball short (but high) in order to be able to evaluate the kick coverage. It did not go well, to say the least.

Some random comments:

* The Eagles attempted their PATs from the middle of the field. That is something that they have been fiddling with the past couple of years. For a while there, they were kicking from the left hash, presumably to counteract the tendency of Elliott to sail balls to the right. I guess they're back to the middle again this year.

* On the Eagles first kickoff, they allowed the Jets returner to get all the way to the 35. Bad. And this was after a kickoff with a stellar 4.55 hangtime.

* Britain Covey showed very quick feet in traffic on his kickoff return. He reminded me more of a punt returner than a kickoff returner based on his style of running/

* Jalen Reagor fair caught a punt at the fifteen. The circumstances dictated it.

* With about ten seconds left in the half, Reagor had a chance for a return but didn't do much with it after running laterally. 

* Tay Gowan had a nice tackle on the opening kickoff of the second half.

* I was not please with the play of Covey on a punt he fielded at the nine yard line. Perhaps I'm being too critical but I was disappointed that as he was being taken down at the five yard line, he proceeded to keep his balance and was ultimately tackled at the five. If he had gone down immediately, he'd have been given forward progress at a spot closer to the nine than the five. It's a small thing. And I understand that displaying the balance to avoid an initial tackle is actually a good thing.

* Jason Huntley impressed with a strong kickoff return, taking the ball from five yards deep all the way out to the 37. This is what he does best, kickoff returns I mean. Unfortunately I doubt they will dedicate a roster spot to him based solely on that specialty.

* JaCoby Stevens made a nice tackle on a punt.

* Nick Sirianni was forced to burn a timeout when the Eagles had more than eleven men on the field prior to a Jets punt. He was not happy. I don't blame him.

* Covey fair caught a punt.

* Covey returned a punt from the ten to the fifteen, showing short pitter patter steps.

* Devon Allen made a tackle on a punt.

* The worst special teams play of the game came after the Eagles took the lead with under two minutes left. After intentionally kicking short the first three times, Elliott hit a great ball (about 4.4 hangtime) five yards deep into the endzone. But the Eagles allowed the Jets return man to take the ball all the way to the 47, jump starting their game winning drive. It looked to me like Kennedy Brooks got blown up in the middle of the field, while the edge guys allowed a big crease. Just a crap play that spoiled my mood for the rest of the evening.

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May as well get the Browns preseason game out of the way. It was kinda uneventful.

Arryn Siposs punted three times with an average of about 39.7 yards and 4.63 hangtime. His two game average is at 43.8 yards and 4.56 hangtime.

Jake Elliott kicked off four times with an average of about 72.5 yards and 4.00 hangtime. His two game average is 66.9 yards and 4.20 hangtime.

For the second consecutive week, Elliott made all three of his PATs.

Other stuff:

* Browns rookie kicker Cade York had incredible hangtimes on his kickoffs. I'm talking freakish hangtimes. I'm talking "best I've ever seen" kind of hangtimes. Without spending any real time on it, it looks like they were around 4.7 seconds, including one around 4.8. Amazing.

* Britain Covey returned the opening kickoff from the two to the twenty-four. Not bad.

* Tay Gowan had an impressive tackle on a kickoff.

* Covey smartly let a punt go into the endzone for a touchback. He pretended to position himself to make the catch at the nine in the hopes that it might prevent a Cleveland player from downing the ball. Good judgment and execution there.

* Gowan can very close to downing a punt inside the five yard line but as Maxwell Smart might have said, "He missed it by that much". 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Dolphins preseason game debacle:

Arryn Siposs punted six times with an average of about 46.8 yards and 4.73 hangtime. It was a very good game for him. His preseason average was 45.1 yards and 4.63 hangtime. Overall a good preseason for the most part, although as I point out nearly every year, preseason numbers are usually going to be much better than average because of the hot August weather. The ball just flies. It's also why I don't get too bent out of shape when December and January numbers go down. It's mostly weather related.

Jake Elliott kicked off three times but I was unable to time the first one. The two that I timed averaged 72.0 yards and 4.42 hangtime. Very good. His preseason averages were 67.9 yards and 4.24 hangtime. Keep in mind that his short kicks against the Jets, which were intentional, brought the numbers down.

Elliott made his first and only FG of the preseason, as well as his PAT. On the preseason he made all 8 of his attempts, earning the Eagles 10 points. The expectancy was about 9.1 points.

For what it's worth, I thought Elliott's kicks this year were straighter than they normally are. A lot of them were pretty much dead center. I think that bodes well.

Other stuff:

* Was there ever any doubt that the Dolphins kicker was going to make that 55-yard attempt? Other teams don't miss long kicks against us.

* Britain Covey returned a kickoff from the goal line to the 22 yard line. I was very pleased with his ability to shorten his quick steps and maintain his forward movement while doing so. He's not trying to bounce his kick returns outside (like Quez Watkins annoyingly does). He's keeping his shoulders squared. Guys like that often accumulate nice hidden yardage. They don't stand out, yet they're getting more yards than you realize.

* Covey fielded a punt near the sideline at the 18 and squirmed to the 25. I thought he maximized his return there pretty well.

* Devon Allen had a great special teams play as a gunner. He sped downfield and grabbed the return man by the legs and waited for his teammates to arrive. His great speed was apparent on that one.

* Matt Leo recovered a muffed punt. Allen again was the first guy down there, impressively.

* Covey returned a kick from the one to the 23.

* Covey returned a punt from the 9 to the 19, again doing a very good job of chopping his steps.

* Kennedy Brooks made an excellent tackle on punt coverage. His desire was impressive.

Let's get on with the regular season!!!!

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I'm still concerned about the coaching here. During the surprise onside kick, it never hit the ground and a fair catch should have been signaled. This is basic stuff. Then on the 4th quarter pooch kick, why did we give ourselves up without trying to better our field position? That makes no sense. 

 

Elliot was good. Covey fielded punts nicely and took what was there on returns. Watkins looked slow as a KR. 

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7 hours ago, brkmsn said:

I'm still concerned about the coaching here. During the surprise onside kick, it never hit the ground and a fair catch should have been signaled. This is basic stuff. Then on the 4th quarter pooch kick, why did we give ourselves up without trying to better our field position? That makes no sense. 

Elliot was good. Covey fielded punts nicely and took what was there on returns. Watkins looked slow as a KR. 

I think it would have been a lost to ask for for McPhearson to quickly make the decision to call for a fair catch. It happens so quickly in the moment. I think it was more important for him to concentrate on catching the ball -- which he did.

Agreed on the decision to simply fall down on that final kick return. Every yard we would have gained would have been yardage the Lions would have had to make up if they had been able to get the ball back. Watkins probably cost us five yards by surrendering. Although to be honest, I was just kinda happy he didn't fumble. Also his lousy kick return earlier in the game was typical of him. It seems like he always wants to bounce his returns wide and he ends up going nowhere in the process. I don't think it'll be long before he's replaced by either Gainwell or Scott. They don't have his speed and his theoretical big play ability, but they don't make bone headed decisions either. Although to be honest, Gainwell has shown a proclivity for putting the ball on the ground.

I agree about Covey. He looked secure back there. Come to think of it, maybe he's the answer as the kick returner.

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