Browns Ticket WInner
September 20, 2011Da Clip Show: Back to Back Champs And Mike Sarbaugh Is AWESOME Edition – 9/20/11
September 20, 2011One of the biggest stories in the NFL post-lockout and coming into the season was the new rules around kickoffs. The fear seemed to be that there would be nothing but touchbacks as great returners like Josh Cribbs were forced to put a knee down or watch a ball sail over their heads. While there are definitely more touchbacks, the early results seem to indicate that when Josh Cribbs does have occasion to bring it out he can do so with some success. So far this season with admittedly limited statistics to indicate a true trend, Josh Cribbs is averaging 34.2 yards per return. He has a long of 52 and in five return attempts he has four returns over 20 yards and two over 40 yards.
Forget last year when Josh Cribbs was largely injured and teams mostly kicked away from him. Last year Cribbs didn’t have any returns over 40 yards. In 2009 though, Cribbs had three return TDs with a long of 103 yards and a touchdown (video below.)
For the season though, Josh Cribbs had six returns over 40 yards in 56 return attempts. So far this season Cribbs and the Browns special teams unit in front of him have two already. Again, far too early to make any actual conclusions, but maybe this means even with fewer attempts, when the good return units are given an opportunity they will be able to produce at a higher average. The ball has been moved up, but don’t discount the shorter running start allowable by defensive coverage units. Something I didn’t think about prior to the season is that maybe there is a bigger advantage to the return team on balls that actually come out of the end zone due to this portion of the rule change.
That is my hope after seeing what we’ve seen so far. No doubt the touchback numbers are up. At the same time, maybe the NFL has unintentionally increased the explosive potential of the return game when a kicker isn’t able to force a touchback. Maybe as the wind whips up on the lake in Cleveland and kickers aren’t able to predictably knock the ball through the back of the end zone it will actually accentuate great returners like Josh Cribbs even more. Remember that fewer opportunities and increased selectivity should keep Cribbs fresher so that when he sees something in front of him maybe he is more physically fit and prepared to capitalize.
Let’s hope so. Let’s also hear it for unintended consequences of rule changes if it does come to play out that way over the course of the season.
5 Comments
Dolphins were bad at kick coverage last year:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/dolphins/new-rules-to-limit-kick-returns-might-help-1790455.html?printArticle=y
But, Carpenter was one of the best in the NFL at getting touchbacks and now has 5 extra yards to work with:
http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/tag/_/name/dan-carpenter
The rule also would help negate Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski as a weapon because he covers more distance than his peers. He averaged 67.9 yards per kickoff last year, fifth in the league, before a thigh injury sidelined him in November. He generated a touchback 35.7 percent of the time, second in the league behind Baltimore Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff.
Miami Dolphins kicker Dan Carpenter was next in the AFC East with a 65.8-yard average and 20 percent touchback rate.
Cribbs is exploding through seams again this year like 2 years ago. That’s a huge difference.
Also, wonder if the coverage units are backing off just a little as they see the ball approach the back of the end zone, and then are a step late to their spots. If this is the case getting screamed at in the film room will eventually bring them back up to speed.
You can definitely see the difference in Cribbs between last year and this year. He has his burst back and man do I hope it stays around for a while.
The shorter run space is a HUGE difference, IMO. I’m also guessing that more kicks are a bit lower trajectory in an attempt to kick them deep enough to discourage returns, which means that the returner has more time to plot his route and pick up some steam, forcing an already slowed down coverage team to slow down further.