The Special Teams Index is our way of quantifying who has the best overall special teams in the league.
A detailed look at how we arrive at the five different category ranks: FG kicking, net punts, net kickoffs, kick returns and punt returns appears below the Special Teams Index chart.
Special teams are meaningless … right up until they come into play, and you grasp your head in agony/leap for joy.
From looking at the Special Teams Index for 2007, it’s obvious that great special teams don’t equate to greatness. But they can certainly help a poor team overachieve, and vice versa.
Five of the top seven teams on the Special Teams Index didn’t make the playoffs in 2007, including No. 1 San Francisco.
We kept wondering how the Niners, with their inept offense and average D, managed to win five games. Well, they can thank its lucky stars for the special teams, which were remarkably good.
They were in the top five in field goal kicking (fifth by our method), first in net kickoffs and second in net punts. They were just kicking the crap out of the ball out there. And their return units both finished in the top 11 as well.
Was it good enough to get them in the playoffs? Hell no. But it was good enough to spare them total embarrassment, which they were heading for.
San Francisco kicker Joe Nedney should have made the Pro Bowl alongside punter Andy Lee. He might have led the league in kickoff average if it weren’t for his seven onside kicks (a league high), of which two were recovered. The Niners were No. 1 in net kickoffs (we remove onsides from that number) and Nedney was No. 5 in our FG rankings.
Buffalo finished fourth, and they were another team whose raw offense/defense numbers didn’t add up to their record (7-9). But their great punt returns (No. 1) and solid FG kicking (6th) helped matters greatly.
San Diego will have the best special teams in the playoffs, with above-average ranks in all of the five categories and a No. 2 rank overall.
Indianapolis will have the worst, sharing the overall bottom spot on the Index with Cincinnati.
Kicker Adam Vinatieri, is responsible for the Colts’ No. 31 rank in FG kicking, but not for the team’s struggles on kick coverage – his 65.0 yard kickoff average was No. 4 in the NFL, although the Colts are 23rd on net kickoffs thanks to shoddy coverage units.
The Colts are also last in net punting and 22nd on kickoff returns.
No team was below average in all five phases of the Special Teams Index, although Carolina came close – the Panthers’ best rank was 13th in net punting.
The Giants’ special teams were also quite poor; they are 28th, with only their No. 7 rank in kick returns ranking outside the bottom 10 league-wide.
The five categories in the special teams index:
1. Field-goal kicking
- For every field goal made from inside the 40, a kicker gets one point, but he loses three for a miss.
- Between 40 and 49, it’s two for a make and minus two for a miss.
- Hit from 50 or beyond and it’s worth three, while a miss costs a kicker only one.
Then we divide the C.O.C.K.-U.P. total by the number of kicks attempted. This gives us C.O.C.K-U.P. Per Attempt, or C.O.C.K.-U.pP.A.
2. Net kickoffs
No rocket science here, it's just gross kickoff yards (minus) opposition return yards/touchback yards. Onside kicks don't count toward the total, and a kick out of bounds is considered a 40-yard return.
3. Net punts
This one's finally been accepted as the more important stat than gross punting when judging kickers, although no one in the NFL pundit community is much concerned with either stat.
4. Kick return average
Just like momma used to make.
5. Net punt return average
It's always irked the Cold, Hard Football Facts that fair catches aren't figured into a returner's average. As it stands, if Punt Returner A has 10 returns for 100 yards + 10 fair catches for zero yards and Punt Returner B has 20 returns for 199 yards and no fair catches, PR A is averaging 10.0 a return, PR B 9.9 a return.
Unfair! Punt returners with balls should go on strike to protest their less-bold counterparts.So that's how we arrive at the net punt return number.
