Punt-Block Obsession Hasn’t Subsided
June 4th, 2013
The photo above captured one of the great bang-your-freakin’-head-against-the-wall moments of last season. Dekoda Watson came in clean on a punt block but completely forgot his technique.
Watson missed the sure block against Dallas and was tagged with roughing the kicker. To make matters worse, bad experiment Jordan Shipley fumbled away the punt, and the Cowboys recovered and got the extra 15 yards from the penalty. It was an absolute killer in the Bucs’ six-point loss. Greg Schiano even called the play a 10-point swing.
But the Bucs rebounded to lead the NFL in blocked punts with three, a huge total by NFL standards. Two were by Watson, and one was from Aqib Talib, plus Ronde Barber had a deflected punt that didn’t count in the stats.
Joe brings this up because the New Schiano Order was on its punt-block details again today at practice. Beat man Tom Krasniqi, of WDAE-AM 620, had was observing the process.
New Bucs special teams coach Dave Wannstedt is the most vocal assistant coach out there. At one point during practice, he was teaching the players on the proper technique of blocking a punt. Schiano also supervised the drill. The Bucs are really placing an emphasis on good special teams play for 2013.
It’ll be interesting to see whether Schiano and his punt-blocking obsession can stay ahead of the rest of the NFL. The Bucs didn’t block a punt in their last seven games of 2012.
June 4th, 2013 at 6:13 pm
Just read that Evan Landi was cut and we signed a Kicker?
Not understanding that logic at all. I agree the more competition the better but why does our kicker need competition at the expense of a much more important position that we dont have the answer for yet?
June 4th, 2013 at 6:18 pm
That play will stick in my mind forever… The feeling I got from that play was one of the worst I’ve had…
Consider it to be one of the worst/crushing plays I’ve ever seen by our Bucs,And I’ve been in love with the Bucs since 1976, when I was ten years old.
June 4th, 2013 at 6:19 pm
Yeah, I remember that play at Dallas. It was one of those “Great Play! …..dumbass”. Those are the mental errors this team inflicts upon itself. Hopefully this year we can execute flawlessly with a year of instruction notched into their repertoire.
June 4th, 2013 at 6:47 pm
@Couch Fan – They looked at Landi and didn’t like him. Why does it have to be more than that. They’ll look at this kicker, too. Most teams have two kickers in training camp.
June 4th, 2013 at 8:42 pm
Please not Wannstedt.
The man is a doomsday machine.
June 4th, 2013 at 9:13 pm
@Keith
I just find it weird that they cut a guy that has more chance of making the roster than the guy they signed… I never said it was more than that.
June 4th, 2013 at 10:31 pm
Kicker is a camp leg. They don’t want to wear out Barth before the season.
June 5th, 2013 at 12:21 am
If they thought landi had a chance to make the squad they wouldn’t have cut him.
June 5th, 2013 at 12:54 am
I’m on record as being a big fan of #56, but that play was an absolute killer! Here’s hoping that he can finally make the leap (no pun intended) to being a starter.
June 5th, 2013 at 7:22 am
“The Bucs didn’t block a punt in their last seven games of 2012.” – Joe
Yer we might not have blocked a punt….but really how many punts did the oppo have. It seemed like they scored on every possesion
June 5th, 2013 at 9:25 am
Couch Fan Says: June 4th, 2013 at 6:13 pm
Just read that Evan Landi was cut and we signed a Kicker?
“Not understanding that logic at all. I agree the more competition the better but why does our kicker need competition at the expense of a much more important position that we dont have the answer for yet?”
My guess is because of planned ST practices. You need multiple kickers for that.