The Green Bay Packers have had lousy special teams play for the past three seasons, though there was some improvement with the addition of P Tim Masthay. Arguably it was a problem for them all season, they should have been better than 10-6 in 2010 but the special teams unit rarely gave them a big play. It didn't lose them a game in the playoffs, however, it didn't help them win a game either.

Len Pasquarelli thinks the Packers might not be so fortunate next season. At CBSSports.com:

It's somewhat incongruous that in a year in which the Green Bay Packers were the Super Bowl XLV champions, the storied franchise finished near the bottom of the special teams rankings -- 29th, in fact -- annually compiled by NFL writer Rick Gosselin of The Dallas Morning News...

"The impact [of special teams] will probably be bigger than ever," allowed one NFC head coach whose teams ranked in the top one-third of the league in '10, according to Gosselin's calculations. "Details are big in any year, and will be bigger if we have to play without an offseason ... and special teams are all about details."

Still, there is something to be said for continuity, and that's a commodity that, as far as special teams, will be a prized commodity in 2011.

In a way, coach Shawn Slocum has already been through a chaotic season in 2010 when injuries hit his special teams unit hard. At times, there were new players joining the team every week, and he only had that week to get them prepared. Unfortunately it didn't work out so well, as Football Outsiders ranked their special teams unit No. 26 overall due in large part to poor kickoff coverage and kick returns. It's possible that they could be even worse in 2011, but I can't believe it.

Continuity, and having veterans available for special team duties, might be a big reason why S Anthony Smith expects he'll be re-signed by the Packers once the lockout is lifted. Maybe some of the recent late round draft choices will help turn it around. 5 of their last 7 picks last April were defensive backs, linebackers, and tight ends, who are the usually the players running down on kick coverage. Not that I have a lot of faith in Slocum, but Mike McCarthy does, and maybe this is the year it all comes together. It could happen...

Another way to look at it is that the shortened off-season will hurt everybody's special teams, which will tend to equalize things. You can go round and round and round with this stuff. My guess is that the effect of the lockout on competitive balance overall will be difficult to determine and probably not great.

Originally Posted by: Greg C. 

I was going to say about the same thing.. IMO.. the effect this will have overall more so will be the defenses, especially the complex schemes will be effected greatly.. but even then the offenses in general will be behind as well.



Overall.. a bit more of a "sloppy" game will appear early.. but shouldn't be that glaringly apparent.

Originally Posted by: Pack93z 

You know, I've often thought that all of the off-season preparation may have the effect of making the game too complicated for its own good, which results in sloppy play because the players are having to think so much out there. It just might be that with coaches having to simplify things a bit we'll actually see a cleaner-looking game based more on one-on-one matchups.

Originally Posted by: Greg C. 

You know, I've often thought that all of the off-season preparation may have the effect of making the game too complicated for its own good, which results in sloppy play because the players are having to think so much out there. It just might be that with coaches having to simplify things a bit we'll actually see a cleaner-looking game based more on one-on-one matchups.

Originally Posted by: Greg C.