Special teams question.

and I don't remember the source, but I read an article that showed how much the slightest field position mattered in terms of successful scoring drives. I don't know if the stats/results have changed over the years. But there was a marked difference, for example, between a drive starting at the 20 and the 30.


It was also fascinating to see how much a negative play (penalty, sack) were real drive killers.

that's something I harped on with the Giants offense the past two years. The Giants basically became a dink-and-dunk team and what other teams were basically doing was daring the Giants to drive the field without negative plays. They couldn't.

They took away Beckham. We had no running game.

how many special team players he signed in the off season.

I am just very curious on who our punt returner is going to be?

Field position is crucial and it can be the deciding factor in games. I like the focus on strengthening the special teams. Adding Tae Davis, Lorenzo Carter, Michael Thomas, Hunter Sharp, and Russell Shepard to ST's should certainly help. Also we appear to have a competent ST's coach.

will give Rosas training camp to show that he has improved his accuracy. They don't want to make another mistake by letting go of a promising young kicker after Boswell and McManus. There is a chance that our kicker is still not on the roster. There are always a few solid veteran kickers made available after cutdown day if Rosas doesn't inspire confidence.

The concept you're referring to is known as expected points and the number changes with every yard gained or lost on the football field.

and
Eric from BBI : Admin : 10:46 am : link : reply
that's something I harped on with the Giants offense the past two years. The Giants basically became a dink-and-dunk team and what other teams were basically doing was daring the Giants to drive the field without negative plays. They couldn't.

I remember them having to complete three short passes to make 10 yards for a first down....dink and dunk was pathetic....especially when the defense knew you would pass in about two seconds, there was no time to get separation, and the receiver was immediately tackled after the catch for a short gain...in contrast, teams would catch the ball well short of the first down marker, and make yards after the catch for a first down...

He drove home the value of special teams to anyone who was paying attention by discussing total yardage differentials over the course of a season.

The net punting average is more important than the return average. On kickoffs the average starting field position after a kickoff was most important.

So in a simple example, if one team's punting net was 40 and the other was 45. 5 punts = 25 yards.

One team's starting field position after kickoffs was the 25 and the other was the 20. 5 kicks = 25 yards.

One team has 80 yards in penalties the other 60, another 20 yards.

That is 70 yards, 350 yards is considered a good offensive game and that is 20%.

Also factor in that good field position generally means better play calling options for the offense. Also, what Eric said about starting field position is true.

The fact is that disciplined teams with good special teams and a favorable turnover ratio have a HUGE advantage in a league where the difference between winning and losing games is often small.

Turnover margin
Red Zone percentage
Hidden yards


Having the best players and the best coaches also helps ;-)

In comment 13975945 Doomster said:

Quote:

and Eric from BBI : Admin : 10:46 am : link : reply that's something I harped on with the Giants offense the past two years. The Giants basically became a dink-and-dunk team and what other teams were basically doing was daring the Giants to drive the field without negative plays. They couldn't. I remember them having to complete three short passes to make 10 yards for a first down....dink and dunk was pathetic....especially when the defense knew you would pass in about two seconds, there was no time to get separation, and the receiver was immediately tackled after the catch for a short gain...in contrast, teams would catch the ball well short of the first down marker, and make yards after the catch for a first down...

They seemed to focus on getting to a "manageable 3rd down" when it is better not to get to 3rd down on every series. Other teams bet that we could not convert 4 or 5 straight 3rd downs to score - and sadly - they were correct.

Link - ( New Window )

Interesting to note you have a negative expected point value when you're pinned in your 20 yd line. Confirms my coaching genius when I always blitz in that area in Madden XD

Sean F*cking Landeta b*tches!

In comment 13975915 Ira said:

Quote:

how many special team players he signed in the off season.

Replacing Quinn and adding some talent to return and coverage teams had to be obvious for any incoming regime. If it wasn’t, we picked the wrong guys...