Special Teams Hurt Chances For Victory

From Arrowhead Stadium

Over the last month, as all the defeats and injuries have formed an Everest like mountain for the Chiefs to climb, they have struggled at times with offense, and at times with defense.

And always they have struggled in the kicking game.

Never was that more evident that in Sunday’s loss to New Orleans. The Chiefs did not give up a score on special teams and they did not have a turnover. They did not botch a PAT attempt.

But they contributed mightily to the Chiefs loss. Even the always reliable Dustin Colquitt is getting pulled into the mess.

Let’s count the ways where the special teams did not help:

- PUNTING: Colquitt missed two games because of injury and it’s becoming more and more apparent that he is not healthy right now. That’s the only explanation for what happened to him against the Saints. In all games the field position battle is important, but none more so than against an offense like the Saints that puts up a lot of points and yards. The Chiefs needed their punter to tilt the field like he has so many times in his career.

It didn’t happen. Colquitt punted four times for an average of 33.3 yards. His net average was the same, 33.3 yards. There were no punt returns against the Chiefs, which was good and Colquitt hit two punts that landed inside the 20-yard line. In the first quarter when the offense stalled at its own 48-yard line, the Chiefs needed a punt that would back up the Saints. Colquitt’s kick went 35 yards and the Saints took over at their own 17-yard line. After kicking the ball, Colquitt was knocked down. The officials did not throw a flag on the play, but he walked off the field in obvious discomfort.

On the first play of the second quarter with the Chiefs backed up deep in their own territory, they needed a big one to push the Saints back. Kicking from his end zone, Colquitt’s kick went just 38 yards and the New Orleans offense had possession at the Chiefs 48-yard line. They ended up scoring a touchdown.

Early in the third quarter he hit a 32-yard punt and the Saints began a possession at their own 48-yard line. They scored a touchdown on that as well.

His final punt of the day came in the fourth quarter. While it was his shortest at just 28 yards, it was his most effective as New Orleans took over at the Saints 12-yard line.

Overall, it was one of the worst kicking days of Colquitt’s four-year career. Is he injured? Are the groin and calf problems that kept him on the shelf for two weeks still nagging him? Did the first quarter hit cause some other problem?

“He kicked like something was wrong,” said Herm Edwards. “We’ll have to see.”

Colquitt himself was a quick dresser and then headed to the training room which is off-limits to the media.

- COVERAGE: Again, the Chiefs hurt themselves by allowing a big return. In the first half, Courtney Roby took a kickoff and ran to his left. The Chiefs coverage unit allowed him to get outside and by the time he was done, Roby had run for 54 yards. That helped set up the Saints first score of the game, a field goal.

From that point on, when the Chiefs did kickoff, they were afraid to go long. K Connor Barth started hitting line drives and mortar kicks. The idea was to not send them deep. When trying to win a field position battle it’s the last thing a coach wants to do, but Edwards obviously felt he had no other choice.

“Five more yards would have been better, it would have been perfect,” Edwards said of the short kickoffs.

Overall, the Saints average starting field position after a kickoff was its own 36-yard line.