Nobody studies NFL special teams rankings while a football tumbles above a snowy end zone. At Lambeau Field on January 22, 2022, Green Bay needed someone to find the ball before San Francisco did.
Jordan Willis had just blocked Corey Bojorquez’s punt. Talanoa Hufanga tracked it, gathered it at the Packers’ 6-yard line and scored. His touchdown helped tie the game 10–10 with 4:41 remaining. Robbie Gould later delivered San Francisco’s 13–10 victory with a field goal as time expired.
The damage had accumulated all night. In his game report, Packers editor Mike Spofford documented a blocked field goal before halftime, followed by Deebo Samuel’s 45-yard kickoff return to midfield afterward. That return helped produce San Francisco’s first points.
Green Bay’s defense kept making the 49ers fight for yards. Its special teams kept giving them another way forward.
The blocked punt supplied the unforgettable image. Samuel’s return exposed the problem beneath it: an offense struggling to sustain drives could still threaten because someone else shortened the field.
Samuel brought the scoring range closer
Samuel reached midfield with the second-half kickoff, forcing Green Bay’s defense to protect a shorter field. San Francisco could threaten points without assembling a long drive.
That starting spot helps explain what NFL special teams rankings should reward. Samuel’s 45 yards mattered because they changed the offense’s next assignment.
FTN’s DVOA measures efficiency on individual plays against league-average performance. Its special teams calculation translates field position into scoring value—the practical difference between making an offense cross most of the field and letting it start near midfield.
At Lambeau, Samuel made that distinction visible. His return put San Francisco closer to a field goal before Jimmy Garoppolo took the next snap.
A fair evaluation still needs a comparison: what would an average return have produced from the same opportunity? Forty-five return yards describe the run; the resulting scoring advantage explains its value.
That distinction keeps NFL special teams rankings from treating every yard alike. Green Bay’s defenders faced the consequence in cleats and shoulder pads: fewer yards available to surrender before Gould could attempt a kick.
Follow the coverage after the ball lands
Samuel’s return illustrated the danger of judging a kick by its flight alone. Distance means little until the coverage team finishes the play.
Imagine a punter driving a 65-yard ball down the middle without enough hang time. The crowd follows the spiral while the gunners chase a returner who catches it with room to accelerate.
A powerful leg can create a difficult tackle. The returner gets moving before the coverage closes.
Consider a simpler hypothetical. A 55-yard punt followed by a 20-yard return produces 35 net yards. A 45-yard punt ending in a fair catch preserves 10 more.
NFL special teams rankings should recognize the second result as the better territorial exchange. Even then, the original line of scrimmage matters.
Near midfield, a punter might aim toward the coffin corner or try to leave the opponent inside its own 10. Extra distance can ruin that assignment by carrying the ball into the end zone.
The gunner must survive his own snap
Outside the formation, two blockers can squeeze a gunner in a vice. He fights through their hands, clears the line, and accelerates toward a landing spot he must locate overhead.
The punter’s hang time gives him a chance to recover from that initial contact. Placement determines where he must finish the chase.
Arriving first does not complete the job. A gunner who overruns the catch can open the escape lane he sprinted downfield to close.
That shared responsibility belongs in NFL special teams rankings. The punter supplies the flight; his teammates help determine whether the returner gets a running start.
Read the space Samuel caught the ball in
Freeze Samuel’s return as he secures the kickoff. Before following his first cut, look at the nearest Green Bay defender: the gap between them matters, along with the speed and angle closing it.
Those are the details NFL Next Gen Stats draws from tracking tags in players’ shoulder pads. In the expected-return models developed with AWS, Samuel’s surroundings become part of the evaluation: defender proximity, relative positions, speed and acceleration help estimate the yardage available when a returner fields the ball.
A defender approaching squarely threatens a different finish from one sprinting past the lane. Nearby blockers can alter both paths before Samuel reaches either player.
The model estimates an opportunity rather than promising an exact finish. Without a verified expected-yardage figure for this particular return, the useful question remains on the field: how much room did Samuel inherit, and how much did he create?
Two hypothetical 12-yard returns can answer that question differently. One runner follows clean blocks; another breaks an immediate tackle before squeezing between closing defenders.
Film reveals the escape. Tracking data helps measure the difficulty, giving NFL special teams rankings a firmer basis for separating opportunity from execution.
Green Bay finally ran out of room
Late in the fourth quarter, the Packers needed to move the danger away from their own goal line. Instead, Willis reached Bojorquez’s punt and sent the football upward.
Hufanga found it before Green Bay could recover. San Francisco scored its only touchdown without asking its offense to gain another yard.
The earlier mistakes now carried greater weight. Green Bay had lost a field goal opportunity before halftime and surrendered the return that helped San Francisco score afterward.
Still, special teams did not bear the entire loss. Spofford’s account also documented Green Bay’s late offensive failures, including three-and-outs on its final two possessions.
NFL special teams rankings cannot explain that defeat alone. They can identify how the kicking units compounded pressure elsewhere.
Gould then finished the game between the uprights. His winning kick underlined the limit of a territory-only assessment: field goal accuracy, protection, snapping and holding must count alongside starting position.
Watch who inherits the long field
The next time a punt drops near the goal line, stay with the play after the fair-catch signal. Watch the gunner slow beside the receiver and turn toward his sideline.
Then follow the quarterback onto the field. His center may crouch only a few strides from the end zone, leaving little space behind the protection.
That starting spot can represent excellent special teams execution. Before assigning credit, trace how the kicking team earned it.
Did the punter match placement with hang time? Could the gunner defeat his blocker and arrive under control? A penalty might change the final spot, wiping away much of the apparent gain.
NFL special teams rankings become useful when they preserve those distinctions. They should also separate what a unit accomplished from what it can reasonably repeat.
Hufanga’s touchdown belongs fully in San Francisco’s account of that night. Expecting another requires evidence beyond the celebration: pressure that repeatedly troubles protection and players who finish their assignments.
A quieter punt may reveal more about the next game. The ball hangs, the coverage closes, and the receiver accepts the fair catch because no lane remains.
Nobody races toward the end zone. The quarterback simply walks out, surveys the long field ahead, and begins a harder possession than he needed to face.
READ MORE: Field Goal Accuracy in NFL Special Teams Rankings and Why Raw Percentages Mislead
FAQs
Why does field position matter in NFL special teams rankings?
Field position changes how far an offense must travel to threaten points. Good kicking and coverage can make the opponent’s next possession harder.
Is the longest punt always the best punt?
No. A shorter punt with no return can preserve more territory than a longer kick that allows a big return.
How did special teams affect the 49ers’ playoff win at Green Bay?
San Francisco blocked a field goal, scored on a blocked punt, and gained midfield position through Deebo Samuel’s return. Robbie Gould kicked the winner.
What do expected-return models measure?
They estimate available return yardage using player positions, defender proximity, speed, and acceleration. They help separate the initial opportunity from the returner’s execution.
Do field goals count alongside field position?
Yes. A complete evaluation includes field goal accuracy, protection, snapping, and holding alongside punting, coverage, and returns.
