The Patriots have had some miscues in the kicking game lately.
The New England Patriots’ special teams operation was slow to get started out of the gate, but decisively turned the corner after its Week 2 win in Miami. Over the next couple of weeks, the group was firing on all cylinders in the return game, in coverage, and in the kicking department.
Lately, however, some inconsistencies have started to disrupt the rhythm that has been building. Whether it be decisively losing the field position battle against the Buffalo Bills, missing the lone field goal attempt against the New York Jets, or allowing a block against the Miami Dolphins in the regular season finale, the ride has become a bit more bumpy the further along the road went.
With the playoff opener against the Los Angeles Chargers coming up, the Patriots’ goal on special teams is clear: eliminate those blindspots.
“We’re in the playoffs now and every play matters,” kicking game coordinator Jeremy Springer said on Thursday. “Little things like that are the difference between winning and losing. I always talk about that with our guys. Like, it’s only one play. That’s all we get. So, we always have to be on our cues. We can’t take any naps. When we take naps, negative things happen to us and that hurts the team and we’re not trying to hurt the team there.”
One of the few holdovers from Jerod Mayo’s coaching staff in 2024, Springer has experience going up against Los Angeles’ special teams group: the Chargers played the Patriots last December, winning 40-7 in Foxborough.
Despite the end result and Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker later being voted AFC Special Teams Player of the Week, New England performed well on special teams. Joey Slye made his lone extra point, Bryce Baringer averaged 55.0 yards on his four punts, and the Patriots out-performed their counterparts both in returning and covering kickoffs and punts.
Ultimately, what happened last season has little bearing on the game ahead. The same might be true for the 2025 regular season, even though the Patriots’ special teams coordinator still sees value in the first 17 games of the year.
A recipe for success, after all, has been found.
“You’re not trying to change what you’ve been doing all year from a routine standpoint. I think it’s got us here for a reason,” Springer explained. “But at the same time, it’s just expressing to our guys how grateful we are to be in this position and then to embrace the preparation part of it and embrace the work that we’re putting in, embrace the details it’s going to take to win this game.
“I think our guys understand that we’ve had clips this year of us doing great things and clips doing bad things and it’s all growth throughout the year and how you learn from it to show you at the end of the day in these kind of games on Sunday that if you make one of those mistakes, it could be costly. I think our guys understand that.”
Category: General Sports
