The Standout Patriots Unit That Nobody’s Talking About In 2022
Bill Belichick thinks differently from the rest. The Patriots do things differently as a result. And over the years, there has been one group that the rest of the league considers an afterthought that Bill puts special importance into. The Patriots’ special teams have been excellent this year, and here’s a look at how the main contributors to the special teams unit are doing.
Nick Folk
It’s hard not to start with the obvious one. Folk has been so dependable for the Patriots and is a big reason they’ve succeeded. He may not have the leg of Matt Prater or Justin Tucker, but he compensates with his reliability and accuracy. He’s been a rock-solid 19/21 on field goals this year, over 90 percent, and one of the kicks he missed was outside of 50 yards, and the other was a 45-yarder.
Inside 50, he’s essentially automatic, having set the NFL record this season for most consecutive kicks made inside of 50 yards with 64 straight. He has yet to miss an extra point, being 20/20 this season. It’s pretty simple when it comes to Folk – he rarely misses. In the last two games, the Patriots have dealt with some serious red-zone struggles and have had to call on Folk nine times, and he has made every single field goal. Being able to rely on a kicker to that level adds a security blanket to the offense, and the Patriots fanbase has the luxury of not having to be nervous when he comes on to kick.
Jake Bailey
Through some offensive struggles, the Patriots have had to call on Bailey a lot, and he has had to punt 37 times already this season. However, Bailey has been struggling a bit compared to last year and needs to improve for the Patriots to fare better in the field position battle. On the positive end of things, he’s in the top half of the league with 12 punts downed inside the 20-yard line, and has multiple punts of above 60 yards. He has also not had a punt blocked yet, and with three last year, that was a problem for him in 2021.
However, with an average of 42.1 yards and a net average of 35.3 yards per game, Bailey is, and you’re reading this right, dead last in the league in both metrics. This is an unacceptable mark for a Patriots punter, and even for someone of Bailey’s caliber – he averaged over 47 last year, which was seventh in the league. He is tied for the second most touchbacks in the league with five, and tied for the fifth-most punts out of bounds, meaning that he’s costing the Patriots a lot of field position.
He’s behind the mark in too many ways this season. However, his previous success hopefully means that there’s no way but up from here for Jake.
Matthew Slater And Brenden Schooler
There’s a much larger punt and kick coverage team, but these two have certainly been the biggest standouts in that unit. Slater, of course, has been a permanent fixture in the Patriots special teams core for over a decade and a perennial pro bowler. Not only is he quick, he has extraordinary field awareness and is able to read the progression of a play shockingly well.
He’s often the first or second guy to the ball, and is a big part of the reason that Bailey has been able to down 12 punts inside the 20. He may be one of the best special teamers ever to play the game, and he continues to be effective this long into his career.
Slater finally, however, has a near-equal on his team, someone who is clearly learning from Slater’s mentorship. Undrafted rookie Brenden Schooler, a hybrid WR and Safety out of Texas, has the capability of being one of Bill Belichick’s next masterpieces. He’s extraordinarily fast on the field, and has the spatial awareness to get from point A to B on the field quicker than almost anyone. He’s a excellent blocker and tackler as well and has an affinity to the ball. He’s been extremely impressive so far, with eight total tackles, two fumble recoveries off muffed punts, and multiple amazing punt coverage players.
The Bottom Line
It’s not all perfect, and there’s room to get even better, but the Patriots’ special teams is, once again, performing at a very high overall level.
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