Special teams aren’t the problem
PHILADELPHIA — The money quote during the Eagles’ coordinator availabilities Wednesday came from special teams coach Michael Clay.
Asked if there was anything unique about Raymond James Stadium from a special teams perspective, the guy who grew up in Santa Clara, California, played at Oregon and nearly made the Miami Dolphins let loose a big smile.
“It’s better than playing in Kansas City or Buffalo with the weather,” Clay said. “I’m not going to be mad at 76-degree weather. But obviously anytime there’s a little bit of wind or possible rain in the forecast we’ll be ready for that. Seventy-six degrees in January, I don’t think I’ll be too mad at that.”
The same could be said for just about everyone in the Philadelphia area right now.
Unfortunately the forecast Monday in Tampa is a high in the 70s, considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers and winds of 10 to 15 mph.
Nasty conditions, just the same, haven’t affected Eagles special teams, which have been the most consistent phase of the club this season.
Kicker Jake Elliott has been near perfect booming 30 of 32 field goal attempts and 45 of 46 PATs for 135 points. He’s made 7 of 8 from 50 or more yards, including a 60-yarder at the buzzer to force overtime.
Britain Covey leads the league with 417 punt return yards, averaging 14.4 yards.
Braden Mann is fifth in the league with a 43.9-yard net punting average, is money on holds for kicks, and completed a 28-yard pass for a first down.
The Bucs have a solid kicker in Chase McLaughlin, who is perfect on 33 PATs and 29 of 31 in field goals, including 7 of 8 from 50 or more yards.
Jake Camarada is fifth in the league, averaging 50.0 yards per punt, and the coverage teams are solid with Zyon McCollum, the identical twin of the Eagles’ Tristin
McCollum, who will play an expanded role Monday due to the loss of Sydney Brown to a torn ACL.
“Obviously for Sydney, you feel terrible for him,” Clay said. “He’s been doing such a good job both defensively and special teams-wise. But again, just like anything else, in the special teams room, it’s nextman-up. You saw Tristin take some reps at gunner in terms of taking his place. It will be hard to fill the void. We’re ready in this room. We’ve got all the guys in this room ready to get their name called up to play whenever at a high level. We’ve done a good job at that for the entirety of the season.”
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Just so you know, many of the teams in these playoffs have won at least two Super Bowl titles.
The Steelers have won six Lombardis, the Cowboys and 49ers five each, the Packers four, Chiefs three, and the Ravens, Rams, Dolphins and Bucs have won two each.
One of those Rams titles came when they were based in St. Louis.
Also, seven teams in the tournament field have non-losing records in the postseason with the Eagles (25-25) and Bucs (11-11) bringing up the rear.
Among playoff teams, the Eagles are tied for third with the Bucs and Lions with a .481 strength of schedule win percentage. The Rams (.529) had the toughest strength of schedule followed by the 49ers (.509).
NOTES: The Eagles are 11-11 versus the Bucs including a 25-11 ictory back in September, when the composition of both teams was much different. … Giants punter Jamie Gillan, who averaged 44.0 net yards and dropped four of his five kicks inside the 20-yard line of the Eagles was the NFC special teams player of the week. … Former Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is in midseason form with his use of “Yeah,” to begin answers. Did that for seven out of 12 questions Wednesday in his presser for the Cleveland Browns, the dark horse candidates to reach the Super Bowl.