The Patriots turned in an all-around excellent special teams performance against the Bengals on Sunday. Joey Slye and his three successful field goal attempts made the biggest impact on the scoreboard, but Slye wasn't the only one playing a big part in the win.
Long snapper and new captain Joe Cardona forced a fumble that was recovered by Jaylinn Hawkins, an important play that led to points. Bryce Baringer averaged 50.0 yards on his five punts and placed three of them inside the 15-yard line, including his last of the game that maintained critical field position for the Patriots. Brenden Schooler was clocked at over 22 miles per hour during his stellar effort, including three solo special teams tackles.
Add it all up and it was a great start for the Patriots special teams under new coordinator Jeremy Springer. After ranking close to the bottom of the league in Special Teams DVOA that last two seasons, the Week 1 effort earned them an initial ranking of eighth this week by FTN Fantasy.
"You always look at the first game of the year, and there's so many things you can get corrected," said Springer. "And that's why I really wanted to harp on our guys, we played very well, but at the end of the day, when you really look at the at the film, there's a lot of things we can correct, and we can play even better into a higher standard. And I really want our guys to take that in, because if we can get to that standard, then we can really, really help our team win games."
Two rookies also earned praise from Springer, as rookie seventh-round pick Marcellas Dial and undrafted rookie Dell Pettus both made positive contributions. Dial played on all special teams units while Pettus took over the difficult task of being the team's punt protector, a role that doesn't exist in college and one that Pettus executed seamlessly in his debut.
"Dell is a great kid, undrafted free agent, a guy that came in has done nothing but get better day in and day out, has really set the standard of how he practices," said Springer. "I think he's just going to take one step further and further to help us win games.
"[Dial] was banged up a little bit in OTAs, so we didn't get a great feel of what he was going to do... He stayed here all summer. He trained his ass off, and he came back, and he was ready to rock and roll in training camp. And ever since then, he's been on fire."
Springer was still sure to spread some praise to Cardona for his big forced fumble. One of the team's most tenured leaders, Cardona was named captain for the first time in his career this season and it helped spark one of the biggest non-snapping plays of his career.
"I'm stoked for Cardona, he puts in a lot of work. He's a great leader on this team. That's why he's a captain for us," said Springer. "I can't talk about enough about him, and hope it builds his confidence up as we continue to move forward. And it also shows the other guys around the room that hard work, when you do it day in and day out, good things are gonna happen on Sunday for you."
With the positive performances all around, Springer felt good to get his first game as an NFL coordinator out of the way, thanks to the support of the coaches and players around him, but just like that, it's time to turn the page.
"I'm always more anxious and nervous throughout the week. I think when it comes to game day, I wasn't really nervous at all. You know, I put as much work in as I can, and I felt prepared," said Springer. "It's always good to have [assistant special teams coach Tom Quinn], because he tells me a lot of things where I can be better and what I can correct. And having a veteran group of players too on special teams like Cardona and Schooler and Peppers and those guys, they're always going to have your back, and they can tell you certain things that you might be missing.
"So I lean on those guys a lot, and that always gives me a sense of ease, even on game day. But it does feel good to get that first one out of the way. But every week's a new week. So we're right back to square one."
