Special Teams Plea

the coffin corner kick was popular in the 70s because the rules at that time did not allow the gunners to leave until the ball was kicked. Without anyone down field to down the ball a pooch kick wasn’t feasible. But a coffin corner kick is a high-risk/high-reward play. It’s very difficult to accurately hit the corner on a high-trajectory kick; there’s the risk of shanking the ball on a low trajectory kick, or of undershooting the sideline and giving up a big return. It’s a great play when it works, but with the rules change the pooch kick is more desirable.

With the pooch kick the gunners get down and try to down the ball before it goes into the endzone. If they miss it becomes a touchback. High-reward/low-risk.

That said, I think kicking out of bounds is not used enough. I recall a game between Oak and KC back when Hall was returning everything for TDs. Oak just punted out of bounds and refused to let Hall return anything. I don’t think I would have gone that far, but that same year (2003 or 2004) we were leading in KC with about 2:00 to go and we punted to Hall. With the help of some uncalled holding he returned it for a touchdown and KC won. In that specific situation, I think the dominant strategy would have been to punt out of bounds and take away one avenue for KC to score. The Chi game in 2007 was similar, but if I remember, Shanny was furious at Saurbrun for kicking to Hester. So I think the plan was to kick away.

The idea that the wedge is no longer allowed is going to really change how ST are run this year for a few reasons. First and most obvious: Guys like Devin Hester and Darren Sproles are severely less potent now. The fact that the returning team can’t form the “wedge” makes it 50 times more likely that a defender can and will get to him faster. I believe the reasons why they banned it is because it’s a high injury type formation. The Wedge formation goes back to 1892 when it was first implemented by Harvard against Yale (wikipedia).

Of course, the formation they used I’m sure was much more like a traditional V pattern with 10 guys all close together. Needless to say, it caused a lot of injuries in the college football scene and was banned in 1894. Most teams (if not all teams) used it in some form or another since though. It hasn’t been necessarily used in a solid 10 man style V, though more often than not, that’s exactly how it’s planned.

Matt Bowen had this to say about the Wedge formation:
"You have a 50-yard head start and you run into your garage door — that’s what it feels like,"

So what I’ve drawn from all that is that the returning team always had the advantage on a lot of levels. First and foremost, these guys have a huge headstart to gain speed and force against the kicking team. When in the Wedge formation with their hands/arms linked, they can and will cause some type of serious injury. Most of the defenders from the kicking team would lower their heads and try to use their heads and necks to break through the wedge, causing serious injuries on too many occasions. Not only did it give the return team a huge advantage (and a head start), they also has momentum on their side.

I talked to my brother about the wedge recently and he said it best. He said it’s like playing a game of “Red Rover” (the game where if you get called over, you have to run and break through the opposing sides line (formed by people linking arms, hands or wrists). He played some ST in high school and he described it like “Red Rover with 250+ pound guys that plow through YOU, not the other way around.”

To answer your question in a short winded manner, the absence of the wedge will greatly reduce a receiving teams possibility of bringing it back all the way for 6.

Great site about the wedge and it’s effects: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=215×96885

Asst ST Coach Keith Burns is a holdover but Mike Priefer is the new lead Special Teams Coordinator. He comes from being with KC the last 3 years as their ST Coach. Interestingly, one of his kickers there was Dustin Colquitt, brother of Britton Colquitt (see Zappa’s post today).

If I’m not mistaken, the wedge rule will lessen injuries to those exposed to it and will make the returners more exposed. So, yeah, it sounds like return men may get injured more often.