Photo by Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Breaking down New England’s blocked punt against the Steelers, Jahlani Tavai’s potential offsides, and more. The New England Patriots snapped a five-game losing streak Thursday night with a 21-18 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but they didn’t make it easy for themselves. Beyond another second-half turnover, another special teams gaffe also proved costly late in the game. With an 11-point lead early in the fourth quarter at their own 15-yard line, Bryce Baringer’s punt banged off the chest of Steelers’ Miles Killebrew. The main breakdown on the play came from Ty Montgomery on the right wing, as he failed to hold his block on Killebrew. “It’s just a fundamental technique thing that we got to clean up,” special teams coordinator Cam Achord explained. “Got to strike right there and just finish our blocks. That way you’re finishing the whole operation time and getting the ball off — we’ll be able to finish there. And obviously have a better punt in that situation that way it won’t be tipped. But it’s just a fundamental technique thing that we gotta clean up and take care of here going next week for sure.” Beyond Montgomery’s breakdown, Achord noted the punt could have also been better in that situation — perhaps referring to the line Baringer walked before the kick. “When you go back it’s just the operation time walking a good line, which he does on that punt specifically. But, anytime like you walk wide or you’re not walking towards where you’re punting the ball it brings that backside into play,” Achord added. “So, we just got to continue to walk good lines as the punter and then in the protection we gotta strike and finish our blocks. We got gunners on the outside, they can release on the snap and we gotta protect first, then cover.” Blocked kick by Miles Killebrew! Things are getting wacky in Pittsburgh... #NEvsPIT on Prime VideoAlso available on #NFLPlus https://t.co/0GJemAElFj pic.twitter.com/doz8TYddyo— NFL (@NFL) December 8, 2023 Four plays after the punt, Pittsburgh found the end zone to make it a three point game. It marked another major play against the Patriots special teams unit this season — which has largely underperformed based off the resources they invest into the unit. “It takes 11 of us all doing it right to make a great play in the kicking game. One breakdown, one guy in the kicking game, that’s what leads to an average play rather than a great play. So, they’re starting to try to take the steps forward, continue on that path,” Achord said. “I think, again, we got to continue to improve as always cause obviously we wanna just be at the top of our game every time we go out there. ... Obviously there’s some different things we’ve got to improve on. But, they’re taking a lot of pride and ownership on it and there’s several plays where you’re one guy away from making a game changing play.” Roster Impact After Montgomery’s breakdown on the punt block, he was immediately removed from the game as Kyle Dugger took his place on the right wing. Then on Friday, New England released Montgomery as they needed to create a roster spot for waiver claim Christian Elliss — who they were rewarded on waivers prior to Thursday’s contest. Elliss has played over 230 special teams snaps for the Philadelphia Eagles this season, including 23 against the Patriots in Week 1 this season. “When you watch Christian when he was in Philly — obviously we got to prepare for him, everything — he’s a good solid physical player, plays with good technique. Things you look for the fundamentals, in the right position, understanding where it has to be — whether it’s the blocking or coverage using his hands. “It’s be good getting to work with him this week. Moving forward, obviously, getting him into the fold you can’t throw everything you’ve done in the game plan at a guy that’s just getting here. But, got to get him up to speed, meet with him as much as we possibly can, and obviously put him out there and hopefully he does a good job for us — whenever you know he gets on the field.” Offsides The NFL headlines have been dominated by offsides penalties since the weekend after Chiefs’ wide receiver Kadarius Toney lined up offsides to negate a potential game winning touchdown. But, the Patriots themselves had a controversial offsides call in their Thursday night victory. As the Steelers lined up to punt on fourth-and-3 near midfield with 5:06 left in the fourth quarter, Jahlani Tavai appeared to jump offsides — immediately throwing his hands on top of his helmet knowing he might have made a costly mistake. Yet, his number was never called by the referee as Clay Martin instead flagged Steelers’ long snapper Christian Kuntz for a false start. “I thought it was a first down for us,” Kuntz told reporters Thursday night. “That’s when I looked up [when] he jumped offsides, I looked up and thought it was a first down for us. No abrupt movement is the rule. So, they must have thought I moved my head abruptly. I saw the big board and I don’t think I moved my head until he jumped offsides.” Achord, however, explained that the officials made the call based off of another movement the league has been “harping on.” “Just the snapper moving the ball, sliding the ball and then there’s the ham and flux of also moving the ball back and moving the hand at the same time,” he said. “They’ve been really harping on that hard and we’ve been kind of been on some of the sides of where we’ve gotten the other team to jump, or we’ve been on the same side where they’ve called Cardona in the past for it. So, that’s what they kind of told us there. “They saw the snapper move the ball, move his hand, and that’s what made Jahlani obviously jump off side right there. Any time you’re sliding the ball a little bit or anything, that’s what you’re keying in on the football. So if it moves, you move. So that’s kind of what led to [Tavai] jumping off side right there and obviously we were favorable to get the call to go our way there.” Here’s a different angle of the false start. Refs called this “abrupt movement” by the long snapper. #NEvsPIT pic.twitter.com/hThMaDaHkG— Rate the Refs App (@Rate_the_Refs) December 8, 2023 On the Amazon broadcast, former referee Terry McAulay’s explanation matched Kuntz’s breakdown focusing on the head movement of the snapper. While that is a legal move, the referees on the field focused on the movement of the football instead. “When you head bob, that’s a natural movement for any snapper to look around, that’s natural,” Achord added. “That’s part of their normal mannerisms, which is completely legal. It’s the influence of the ball or the hand shifting on the football, which is actually what’s getting called. Unless their head just like is abrupt really fast, no different than a quarterback inflection at the snap. That could be called as well, the head, but also moving the football is the main reason was.” Beating the Competition After rookie kicker Chad Ryland missed a potential game-tying 35-yard field goal against the New York Giants, the Patriots held a long list of specialists in for workouts the following week. While that is standard operating procedure at this point of the year, they ended up signing kicker Matthew Wright to the practice squad. Wright’s stay in New England didn’t last long, however, as Ryland’s competition was cut just nine days later. It came a day after Ryland knocked through three extra points in a win over Pittsburgh — his first in-game attempts since the Week 12 miss in New York. “Chad has done a good job. He showed back up to work after that and really attacked it at practice taking every rep as like a game rep,” Achord explained Tuesday. “I think you watch him in pregame and watch him hit the ball, even though hadn’t had a bunch of field attempts or anything like that, he’s striking the ball well. He’s getting down through the ball, keeping his eyes down through the contact. “He’s doing a really good job, he’s responded well. I think that’s one thing about Chad that you like to see is he moves on to the next kick. You obviously never want to miss a kick but you gotta have some mental toughness as a kicker that when you do miss, you can respond and not let that kick waiver and bother you moving forward. He’s done a good job obviously in practice and in the games making the three PATs the other night.” Extra Attention After a strong rookie season, teams around the league have started to take notice of specialist Brenden Schooler. Despite the extra attention, Schooler is picking up where he left off in his sophomore year as his nine special teams tackles are a team-high and additionally rank tied for second in the league. “Schooler, I’ve told him he’s starting to get the respect out there on the field from other teams — which is an accomplishment for him,” Achord said. “Anytime you’re getting double team, whether it’s on kickoff or as a gunner, it means you have a respect factor from the opposing coaches. “Teams are starting to account for him a little bit more. He’s not a rookie anymore. He’s obviously made enough plays last year this year that people are acknowledging him. So, we just got to continue to find ways to get him to the football. He does a great job for us, prepares every week so he’s doing a really good job for us among... But, definitely teams are noticing him out there on the field for sure.” The one downside of Schooler receiving extra attention has been penalties. After recording just two his entire rookie season, Schooler has been flagged four times this year — a league high for specialists.
Source: https://www.patspulpit.com/2023/12/13/2 ... ke-up-call
