At least this week they did. My guess is that it was just a glitch, because there's no reason for the coverage units to be any worse. The only thing I can think of is that the kickoff coverage units got a bit complacent because of all the touchbacks, but they won't be complacent anymore, and of course there have been no rules changes with the punting game.

Originally Posted by: Greg C. 

One thing that bugs me is that with Crosby's leg I would have him kick it out of the endzone every time it was possible. I would prefer to make a team go 80 yards to score a TD rather than give them a chance against our coverage units. This would eliminate a lot of big plays, which I think is one of the only threats to this team.

Originally Posted by: olds70supreme 

But as you noted.. that doesn't effect the 5 punts returned...

That said.. it begs the question what is an average week for punt and kickoff returns independently.. was it the KO returns that were up or the punt returns or both.

Originally Posted by: Pack93z 

So before we waste our time analyzing these rule changes (wait a minute--we already have!) let's throw out the five punt returns and consider whether three kickoff returns in one week is an exceptionally high number. I would expect that the average per week is something like one, but three (or more) have most likely been returned for TDs a bunch of times before. We'll see in the coming weeks whether or not this is a real trend.

Originally Posted by: Greg C. 

You also have to take into account the percentage of kicks that aren't returned - the vast majority of kicks are touchbacks since the rule change.

3 TDs out of 150 returns isn't that many, but 3 out of 30 is...

Originally Posted by: Since69