St. Louis Rams special teams improve

BY JIM THOMAS
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
01/09/2010


There were a lot of reasons the Rams stumbled to a 1-15 record in their just-completed season. Just don't blame special teams.

In fact, you could make a case that under rookie special teams coordinator Tom McMahon, St. Louis enjoyed its best special teams play of the decade.

That's a somewhat muted distinction, given the shoddy play that has characterized the unit for much of the decade. Then again ...

— The Rams' league-wide rankings in net punting (second), punt coverage (fourth) and kickoff coverage (22nd) were the highest for the team in the decade. (That's right, a No. 22 ranking on kickoff coverage was a single-season best for the Rams from 2000 through 2009.)

— The Rams' ranking in kickoff returns (11th) was their second-highest ranking of the decade; gross punting (fourth) was third-best; and punt returns (eighth) was fourth-best.

McMahon was pleased but not overwhelmed by the progress the unit made this season.

"At the end of the day, what you're looking for is wins, and that's what we need to do," McMahon said. "We have to play better on special teams to get us those wins.

"So we need to improve, and that's what we're going to do this offseason. I think that the guys have that in mind. We're looking forward to that first game (of 2010) coming out and hitting it right away, and not having the mistakes that we had this year."

The Rams were plagued by special teams penalties and mistakes early in the season, including having 12 men on the field as Seattle attempted a field goal in the season opener. In Game 4, San Francisco scored a gift TD when a ***** punt bounced off Quincy Butler's leg and Butler failed to fall on the ball in the end zone.

There were other hiccups along the way, such as Courtney Roby's 97-yard kickoff return for a TD for New Orleans. And Danny Amendola's lost fumble on a punt return in the Dec. 27 game in Arizona.

But there were highlight moments as well, including kicker Josh Brown's TD pass to Daniel Fells on a fake field goal against Detroit. Against Tennessee, Kenneth Darby ran 51 yards on a fake punt, setting up the Rams' only touchdown.

There were some highlight players as well over the course of the season.

Reserve linebacker Chris Chamberlain was the star of the coverage units, with 28 special teams stops. That's the second-highest total since the Rams moved to St. Louis in 1995, surpassed only by linebacker London Fletcher, who had 30 special teams stops as a rookie in 1998.

Amendola proved to be a find as a return man after joining the Rams in Week 3. In 14 games, he set Rams franchise marks for kickoff returns (66), kickoff return yards (1,618), combined...

Rams riding special teams roller-coaster

BY JIM THOMAS
Thursday, November 17, 2011

The amusement parks may be closed for the summer, but for thrills and spills there's no place like Rams special teams lately.

_ Thrills: Robert Quinn blocks a punt late in the first half against New Orleans that rolls out of bounds at the Saints' 15. Two plays later, the Rams are in the end zone for a touchdown and off and running to a stunning 31-21 upset victory Oct. 30.

_ Spills: Arizona blocks what would've been a game-winning field goal by Josh Brown as time expires in regulation. Less than two minutes into overtime, Patrick Peterson's 99-yard punt return for a TD gives the Cardinals a shocking 19-13 victory Nov. 6.

_ Thrills: Hired by the Rams four days earlier, David Nixon strips Cleveland punt returner Joshua Cribbs of the football midway through the fourth quarter. Ben Leber recovers the fumble at the Browns' 27. Six plays later, Brown kicks what proves to be the game-winning field goal. Brown's kick holds up in a 13-12 victory Nov. 13 only because a bungled snap and a James Hall forearm cause Phil Dawson's 22-yard field goal to veer off course with 2:10 to play.

No Rams coach has lived on the edge like special teams coordinator Tom McMahon has these past three Sundays. One point he doesn't need to stress much is that special teams play can make or break you. All he has to do is show the evidence in the film room: from Quinn's block, to Brown's blocked field goal, to Peterson's return, to Cribbs' fumble, to Dawson's botched field goal.

"Every play is a big play," McMahon said. "There's five plays right there that have really changed the outcome of the games. Every single play counts."

No doubt, the toughest special teams play to swallow this season was the Peterson punt return.

"To see it on ESPN every day and that kind of crap," said fullback Brit Miller, one of the Rams' core special teams players. "Just to suffer that loss at that point in time, where we'd done such a great job against (Peterson), for him to go out and make a play like that, it was tough."

"After the Arizona game. . .it was a difficult week for everybody," McMahon said.

Then came Cleveland.

"This last weekend was almost like the tables were turned, and we finished the game the right way," McMahon said. "It has been a roller coaster. But at the end of the day you've just got to try and keep it an even keel, and play through the last play and move on."

Win or lose, triumph or tragedy, McMahon puts each game to rest once he hits the sack that night.

"I won't go to bed any game, doesn't matter (how) we play, until I've seen the tape," he said.

For away games, that means...

By Howard Balzer


Wednesday, October 22, 2008




Somewhat lost amid the consecutive wins by the Rams over Washington and Dallas has been the play of the Rams' special teams.


As Rams coach Jim Haslett said Monday, "The special teams have been outstanding. I’m going to say that again because you kind of forget them."


We don't forget when they're bad, but they can be taken for granted when they are good. The Rams' overall play has been better than good the last two games. And it has been highlighted by the kicking of Josh Brown and Donnie Jones.


Jones, of course, has been outstanding since last season. This year, he is averaging 51.6 yards on 34 punts with a net of 41.2. He's had just one touchback and dropped nine inside the 20. There have been a few good returns, but that is to be expected when averaging nearly six punts per game
As for Brown, the Rams knew they were getting one of the league's best kickers, and he is living up to expectations. Most notable is his proficiency on kickoffs.


Against Dallas, Brown had two touchbacks and four other kickoffs reached the end zone. The only glitch was a kickoff out of the bounds near the end of the first half, and that followed a 52-yard field goal. In 25 kickoffs, Brown has five touchbacks and 14 have made it to the end zone. At home, 10 of 14 kickoffs have reached the end zone.


Meanwhile, as good as Jeff Wilkins was, especially on long field goals, Brown is proving to be his equal. Over his last five seasons, Wilkins made an astounding 18 of 21 field-goal attempts from 50 or more yards. In three of those seasons, he had four successful 50-plus field goals and he had three in two others.


This season, Brown already has four field goals from 50 yards or more and has missed two, one of which was from 54 yards Sunday that didn't miss by much to the right. He has made kicks from 51, 52 and 54 (twice) yards, while missing from 51 and 54.


Meanwhile, the return game has looked better the last two games with Dante Hall looking like a different player than he did the first four games of the season. Hall has picked up his game after a discussion with Haslett, and taking notice of the competition with Donnie Avery healthy and the addition to the roster of Derek Stanley.

By Bill Coats
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
08/29/2008

KANSAS CITY — Early in the second quarter Thursday night at soggy Arrowhead Stadium, the Kansas City Chiefs' Bernard Pollard stormed in and partially blocked a Donnie Jones' punt.

It marked the second time in as many preseason games that an opponent had gotten a hand on a Jones boot, a disturbing trend for a team just 10 days away from its regular-season opener.

"Football is a game of field position, and a blocked punt is bad," Jones said. "It's a huge game-changing play. We've got to get it corrected for next week against Philly."

Those aren't the only special-teams woes that have been dogging the Rams, who finished the preseason 2-2 after falling 21-17 in the annual Governor's Cup game. They committed several other miscues against the Baltimore Ravens last Saturday and added more gaffes Thursday. Among them were three long returns that led to two Chiefs touchdowns:


— A 33-yard kickoff scamper by B.J. Sams preceded a seven-play, 62-yard drive that culminated with a 14-yard run by Kolby Smith.

— A 34-yard punt return, after a line-drive boot by Jones under heavy pressure, set up a nine-play, 56-yard march, with Smith scoring from the 4.

— Later, Dantrell Savage sprinted 40 yards with a kickoff, but the defense forced a three-and-out.

"At least now we know what we what we have to work on," said Eric Bassey, a coverage-unit regular. "We have to try to make plays and change games. In order to do that, you have to be in the right spot."

Rookie Matt Caddell, also on the coverage teams, added: "If one guy gets out of place, it's like a domino effect. It could be any one of us. We all take the blame for it."

Rookie Lance Ball, who was lined up to Jones' left, was quick to accept responsibility for allowing Pollard to get by him. "He kind of bull-rushed me, I opened up my shoulder a little bit, and he just nicked" the ball, he said. "There's 11 guys on the field, and if one person breaks down, it can mess up the whole play."

The Rams, who trailed 21-3 early, had a chance to close to 21-13 late in the third quarter when Josh Brown lined up for a 40-yard field goal. In a downpour, Brown pushed the ball wide right, a rare miss for the highest-paid kicker in NFL history.

"Just a bad kick," said Brown, who refused to cite the driving rain. "You've got to contend with Mother Nature. Everything's got to be working."

As the preseason came to a close, the Rams were on the short end of several statistical areas involving special teams:

— Jones averaged 32.7 net yards on 20 punts, some 7 yards under his regular-season total from 2007. The net for opposing punters in the preseason was 41.4.
...

By Jim Thomas
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
09/15/2005

2004: The Rams were 31st in punt coverage and 31st in kickoff returns among the NFL's 32 teams.

2005: Special teams failures last week against the ***** leave many wondering if the Rams are improved.



The mission was both simple and ambitious for the Rams' special teams unit Sunday in San Francisco.

"We wanted to come out and set the tone that this is going to be one of the top-notch special teams in the league," safety Mike Furrey said.

It began with Chris Johnson stepping out of bounds on the 1 on the opening kickoff, followed by a 40-yard kickoff return by San Francisco's Maurice Hooks, Otis Amey's 75-yard punt return for a touchdown and a successful onside kick by ***** place-kicker Joe Nedney. Oops!

All of which took place a mere 1 1/2 quarters into the game.

"It wasn't the debut that we had envisioned," special teams coach Bob Ligashesky said Thursday. "But any time something like that happens, obviously, you can't wait for your next opportunity to play."

Opportunity knocks Sunday at Sun Devil Stadium against the Arizona Cardinals.

This year was supposed to be different. Coach Mike Martz not only hired the young, energetic Ligashesky to run special teams, but he also hired an assistant for Ligashesky, Charles Bankins.

Whether it was via the draft or through signing low-cost free agents, the Rams added players with an eye toward improving special teams. They appear to be spending more time on the practice field than ever before under Martz on special teams.

But despite this newfound - and some might say - overdue emphasis on special teams, the results looked too familiar against the *****. It looked very much like the same special teams unit that ranked:

Last in 2003, and 30th in 2004 in punt coverage in the 32-team NFL.

Thirtieth or lower in kickoff coverage in four of the past five seasons.

Thirty-first in kickoff returns last season.

Thirty-first in punt returns a year ago.

The rocky start against the ***** prompted cries of "here we go again" throughout Rams Nation.

"That's part of being a special teams coach," Ligashesky said. "One thing you know is that nothing ever is going to go 100 percent your way. You could have 28 plays of special teams, and if one play doesn't go your way, that's the play that's going to stay with you. So, I knew what I was coming into, and accepted it with open arms."

One week into the season, Martz remains convinced things will work out with Ligashesky and with special teams.

"I'm very confident, the rest of the year, that this is going to work fine," Martz said. "This guy that's...