Jacksonville Jaguars’ Special Teams Problems Loom Large Following Bye

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been horrendous on special teams this season.

They have had tipped punts, blocked punts, tipped field goals, muffed returns, and allowed massive returns on them.

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that special teams must play better.

Special teams ultimately comes down to execution. What makes special teams “special” is that each of the units come on the field in very specific packages for very specific situations to perform a very specific task for just one play. In some instances, it means points on the board (field goals) in others it means good field positions (punts, kickoffs). When all is said and done, it’s obvious that the Jaguars simply have not executed.

Failure to execute is part of being a youthful team. The players aren’t experienced enough to mind their responsibilities as a part of larger whole. They don’t have years of entrenched, practiced action letting them fly by instinct on plays. LaRoy Reynolds’ five missed tackles (Per Pro Football Focus, subscription required) on special teams leads the league and is a good indicator of how the units have played overall.

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What’s tough to handle about this is that the Jaguars have two very good specialists on their team. Both kicker Josh Scobee and punter Bryan Anger (he’s a weapon!) are among the best at their positions. They are being let down by the supporting cast around them.

It’s a little bit easier to look at Scobee’s kickoff numbers to show that he isn’t regressing individually. Punting, in contrast, is much more reliant on the supporting cast than kickoffs. Scobee, who has received some flack for field goals that have been tipped or blocked, is saving the Jaguars through his kickoffs. Without reliable coverage units, Scobee has been kicking deep on kickoffs to stop returns. He’s eighth in the league in percentage returned (31.6%) for kickers with more than 35 kickoffs. Even more impressive, those unreturned kicks help brig down the average start position, putting Scobee tied for first in opposition starting field position (19.2).

In contrast, Scobee’s field goal numbers appear off. Considered an automatic kicker across the NFL, Scobee has missed four of his 14 attempts this season, ranking 32nd in field goal percentage at just 71.4%.

Bryan Anger’s numbers also suffer. Because he is often called upon, Anger has a significant body of work for 2014. He has the second most punts this season (58) but has still punted 12 times less than the Oakland Raiders’ Marquette King. His average of 45.8 yards is 10th in the league. Despite having top ten hang time (eighth overall) at 5.44 seconds, Anger’s punt are returned 55.2% of the time, the second most in the league. His percentage returned is significantly higher than other high hang time punters and indicative of poor coverage units on punts. As a result we see increased touchbacks (second in the league with six) and punts kicked out of bounds (ninth in the league with four). That’s punting to avoid having to defend a return as the Jaguars’ 39.2 net yards per punt is just 20th in the league. Despite Anger’s best efforts, he has the most returned punts (32) and the fourth most returned yards (264).

There are a lot of problems to solve here. Field goal blocking, punt blocking, kicking coverage, are all integral parts of special teams. It’s doubtful the Jaguars will be able to solve all of these problems in just one bye week. This is likely a job for the offseason. Hopefully we will see at least improvement through the final six games of the season, though.

Thanks to Pro Football Focus for the numbers to highlight the special teams struggles.