On the opening kickoff of the 2015 exhibition season we saw something we haven’t seen much of lately. Chargers kicker Nick Novak pounded the ball eight yards deep in to the end zone, creating a touchback. It didn’t seem like much, but for Novak the moment provided a bit of validation.
“I think it’ll work,” said Novak, who spent the off-season trying to improve his length on kickoffs. “I think it’s a testament to my hard work. Hopefully there are many to come. I’ve been working on it every week and I know it’s going to be an emphasis of mine.”
Last season Novak was, statistically speaking, the worst kicker in the NFL at creating touchbacks. He only had 10 of them, dead last among the 32 teams.
“It’s all technique,” said Novak. “It isn’t more leg strength it’s just being consistent and doing it the right way. A lot of it had to do with steps, getting my steps down, and then consistent ball contact.”
The importance of the deep kickoff (and a solid coverage team to go after it) is obvious. It’s no coincidence that, for 2014, the top two teams in the league in average opponents’ starting field position were the Seahawks and Patriots. The farther a team has to go to get points, the more trouble it has getting points.
Last year the top seven teams in total touchbacks (Indianapolis, Denver, Carolina, Baltimore, New England, Detroit, Dallas) all made the playoffs. Only three playoff teams had more kickoff returns allowed than touchbacks (Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Green Bay). The Chargers had 10 touchbacks and 67 returns, the biggest discrepancy in the NFL, and still only missed the post-season by one game.
Every year since 2009, the team that led the league in touchbacks has earned a spot in the playoffs. It’s one of the reasons the Chargers brought in big-legged Josh Lambo from Texas A&M to compete for a roster spot as a kickoff specialist. During his senior year Lambo got a touchback on 63% of his kickoffs and on Thursday night against the Cowboys he sent a ball all the way through the end zone.
It’s not just longer kickoffs that should help the Chargers start drives in better position. Punter Mike Scifres is back from the broken collarbone he suffered against the Patriots. Scifres, who has been one of the best punters in the game for almost a decade (with help from NFC Special Teams Pro Bowler Darrell Stuckey), stuck a pair of punts inside the 20 against Dallas. Now, for the first time since Darren Sproles was wearing powder blue and gold, the Chargers return game might be as effective as its kicking units.
Free agent signee Jacoby Jones came over from Baltimore. The best way to describe him as a return man is, “Difference Maker.”
“Oh, it’s huge,” said Scifres when asked about the dimension Jones brings to San Diego. “The field position battle in these games is unbelievable.”
Jones does things just a little bit different than most returners.
“On kick returns my goal is the 30 yard line, 35 yard line,” said Jones. “Everybody tries to say the 25. On punt return I just try to get the offense an extra first down. If we break, we break. The 10 guys in front of me busting their behind for me, that’s where the glory really is.”
Only 19 players in NFL history have more punt return touchdowns than Jacoby Jones. When he’s on the field the game can turn in an instant.
“I mean you look at what happened last year when we played them in Baltimore,” said Scifres, referring to the November 30 meeting where Jones returns put the Ravens in Chargers territory twice and outside their own 35 yard line on two other occasions (drives that resulted in 20 Baltimore points). “He changed (the game) with his returns and the short fields they played on.”
Now, believe it or not, Jones and Scifres are getting together to make each other better, a pair of savants trading insider secrets.
“He has a lot of experience in this league in seeing different punters,” said Scifres, “so I can get some feedback from him and he can get some from me with certain punts or how certain balls affect returners and we can try to work on those in practice.”
“Mike and I talk,” said Jones. “He knows I’m one of those crazy returners. I don’t care where you kick it. But I try to tell him how most returners would be. They don’t like certain balls that really turn hard or something like that.”
“Gathering all that little information, seeing what balls he didn’t like to catch, seeing if there’s a way that he didn’t like to run to catch a ball, in-particular,” said Scifres.
“You can get knuckleballs that turn crazy on you in the air and don’t have any kind of spin,” said Jones. “Then you got the ones that slice on you, so there are all kinds of them that come at you.”
And how does Scifres rank among the NFL’s punters when it comes to unleashing crazy balls?
“He’s pretty good,” said Jones. “I think he’s the best inside the 10, that plus-50. I don’t even try to touch them. It’s gonna bounce out at the two (yard line) every time.”
Scifres and Novak pinning teams deep and Jones getting Philip Rivers and company an extra first down is the formula the Bolts think can help put them back in the post-season. If they get there, look out for Jones again. His 108-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against the 49ers a couple of years ago is a Super Bowl record.
