Steelers - Bungles live punt blog

Happening right now...

First Qtr

15:00 - Expect a lot of punts out of this match-up between two mediocre teams and their mentally-challenged coaching staffs. On the other hand, maybe the Bungles punter will have a light work day because the Steelers defense couldn't stop my grandmother.

12:00 - Steelers strike first with a 4th & 5 from their own 37... Rookie Brad Wing to the dangerous Pac-Man Jones standing back at the CIN 18. Apparently Jones does not like to make fair catches, which is bad for the Steelers horrible punt coverage team... Jones catches at the 25 in traffic but returns straight through the shitty Pittsburgh coverage to the 42. Puntguy rating: 34

9:38 - Second drive, second punt. Just like I predicted. Bungles in 4th & 2 from the PIT 40... Antonio Brown waiting for the kick at the PIT 10... direct snap FAKE!! The moron fumbled the ball short of the first down marker and even though the Bungles recovered it's still Pittsburgh ball. Pittsburgh's unprepared defense saved by a weird NFL rule and the Bungles bungling yet another simple play. Stupid playcall by Marvin Dumb-ass Lewis. It's as good as a fucking horrible punt so we'll count it. Puntguy rating: 0

8:34 - Jesus Christ I'm already getting finger fatigue from these idiots. Three for three. 4th & 9 from the PIT 41 after a spectacular 1-yard drive that lasted all of 60 seconds... Brad Wing kicks to Brandon Tate, he catches at the CIN 12 and returns to the 20. Good punt, ok coverage. Puntguy rating: 67

7:10 - Four for four. This is spectacular. Bungles in 4th & 1 from their 29... Brown waiting at the PIT 22 for the Kevin Huber kick... A back-pedaling Brown catches at the 12 and returns it to the 20. Puntguy rating: 73

3:28 - Five for five, this is fabulous! Brandon Tate waiting at the 8 for Wing's kick... 4th & 9 for the Steelers from their 49... Nice punt angled toward the far sideline, lands at the 25 and rolls ten yards further OOB at the CIN 15. Puntguy rating: 72

1:15 - Six for six. Bungles in 4th & 5 from their own 31.... Brown waiting down at the PIT 19... Sixth-year punter Huber kicks it down to the PIT 25 for a fair catch. Puntguy rating: 63

0:00 - This is my kind of game... I'm pretty sure we've had twice as many punts as first downs so far! Zero third down conversions.

Second Qtr

11:17 - Pittsburgh scores after a nice drive (including a third down conversion) to break the punting streak.

9:06 - Dick Lebeau's vaunted defense finally showed up resulting in an easy TD drive for the Bungles.

7:54 - After a short rest, Brad Wing takes the field again for a Pittsburgh 4th & 4 from their 26... Pac-man misses the catch at the CIN 20 and it takes a wicked bounce down to the 10, 4, 1 and then dribbles in for a touchback just as the return team arrives. Oh so close to a perfect punt! Puntguy rating: 73

Halftime

PUNTER            PUNTS     AVG   IN20   TB  PUNTGUY   PG-AVG
Brad Wing (PIT)       4    48.3      1    1      246     61.5
Kevin Huber (CIN)     2    50.2      0    0      136     68.0

Third Qtr

11:22 - Bungles start off the second half procession... 4th & 13, Huber kicking from his own 39... Too much traffic to field the kick which lands in the middle of a crowd at the PIT 30 and rolls back to the 20. Puntguy rating: 68

4:09 - Bungles in a 4th & 3 from their own 27, punting again... Brown waiting at the PIT 30... Huber's kick caught by Brown at the 30, runs forward a couple yards to the 33, then like a complete fool runs backwards and gets tackled at the 28, but the refs give it to him at the 31 due to forward progress I guess. Puntguy rating: 58

1:39 - Brad Wing makes his second half debut with a Pittsburgh 4th & 5 at midfield... Delay of game penalty drops it back to the PIT 45... Fielded by Tate at the CIN 11, returned to the 18. A little disappointing. Puntguy rating: 67

Fourth Qtr

15:00 - Hey fantasy footballers: I'm glad I started AJ Green today.

14:37 - Hey fantasy footballers: I'm glad I started Le'Veon Bell today.

8:52 - Huber makes his third second half appearance with the Bungles facing a 4th & 9 from their 42... Shitty camerawork on this one but it's a fantastic punt that could turn the game around for the Bungles... lands inside the ten and bounces OOB at the 6. Puntguy rating: 91



8:31 - Hey fantasy footballers: I'm glad I started Martavis Bryant today.

8:07 - Bungles forced into another punt facing 4th & 13 at their own 24... More horrible camerawork but this one looks like he just shanked it sideways, OOB at midfield for a net 26 yard punt. Terrible. Puntguy rating: 35

3:50 - Garbage time punt for Huber with a 4th & 7 from the CIN 26... Fielded by Brown at the PIT 15 and returned to a pile-up at the 21. Puntguy rating: 73

2:25 - Coach Tomlin just yelled at Brad Wing who was apparently not paying attention since he's had so little to do this half: "Hey Wing! Hey Wing! Get this ball out!"


2:00 - Brad Wing makes his garbage time appearance. 4th & 2 from the PIT 29... Fielded at the 23, returned to the 39. Puntguy rating: 46

Fulltime

PUNTER            PUNTS     AVG   IN20   TB  PUNTGUY   PG-AVG
Brad Wing (PIT)       6    47.5      2    1      359     59.8
Kevin Huber (CIN)     7    46.0      1    0      461     65.9

Sunday Morning NFL Injury Update

For all you fantasy football and punting enthusiasts out there, all the punters appear to be active and healthy for today's games.

Alabama punter saves the day

A freshman punter saved the season for the top ranked Crimson Tide of Alabama earlier this evening. Very impressive work.



Puntguy rating: 64

Oregon - Arizona live blog

I will be posting my thoughts on all the punts from the PAC-12 championship game...

First Qtr

11:58 - AZ just stopped OR, 4th & 5 at around the AZ 17... I was hoping OR would punt but they opted to kick a FG instead. Disappointing coaching decision there by the "Quack Attack."

?!? - My DVR just fucked me up and I missed the rest of the first Qtr ARRGGHHH. But I did see Arizona fuck up a little "quick kick" punt from deep in enemy territory that rolled in for a touchback. Puntguy rating: TBD (~48)

Second Qtr

14:54 - OR punting at their 39 on 4th & 15, weird looking formation... high snap tactfully controlled by the OR punter for a nice kick, fair caught around the AZ 17. Puntguy rating: 73

If anyone has any info on any punts I missed in the first quarter, please leave a comment!

13:31 - They're coming fast and furious!! AZ punting from their 26 on 4th & 1... a low bouncy shitty punt that got grabbed at the OR 32 and returned 19 yards to the OR 49. Puntguy rating: 32

10:15 - OR has 4th & goal at the AZ 1 (possibly closer)... this is one time on 4th down that I concede it would be wiser go for it rather than punt... WOW, two false start penalties pushing OR back to the 10 - might be a good time to punt right here... OOPS the OR coach is a moron, they went for the FG and of course MISSED it. Come one you jackass, everyone knows you should fake the FG and kick a punt in that situation. Welcome to fucking amateur hour!!

9:00 - AZ has to punt from their own end zone on 4th & 20, and he has proven so far this evening to be horrible, this could be returned for a TD... booted to half field and then returned 10 yards to the AZ 39. This guy is having a nightmare game. Puntguy rating: 32

7:00 - AZ punting again, wow does their offense stink. 4th & 8 from their 26... high punt, bounces nice and high at the OR 37, picked up by OR returner at the OR 32, returned 7 yds to the OR 39. Another mediocre punt for AZ. Puntguy rating: 34

5:26 - OR offense blowing chunks on this drive, a punt is coming up... 4th & 27 from their own 25... the AZ returner got blocked out of the play by his own guy, the punt lands at the AZ 44 and rolls safely to the AZ 40. AZ looks like a complete mess despite this blah punt. Puntguy rating: 47

3:54 - AZ is awful. 4th & 25 from their own 25 means another punt... and this one is boomed downfield for a fair catch at the OR 21. GREAT punt!! Puntguy rating: 73

1:19 - Another AZ drive, another AZ punt. 4th & 3 from their own 28... awkward looking punt lands around the OR 38 and takes a really beautiful roll down to the OR 23. It looks like this guy has finally warmed up after at least 6 punts already. Puntguy rating: 69

Third Qtr

12:46 - AZ finally got a first down. But only one, so now its 4th & 1 from their own 46, but another bad coaching decision in the works as it looks like they're going to go for it... of course he FAILED. Another coaching failure. Horrible play call. They finally got a chance to put OR back on their heels but because they opted to NOT PUNT, OR now has wonderful field position!

6:34 - Where did all the punts go?

4:33 - They're BACK! AZ once again in 4th down, ten yards to go from their 26.... Low punt looks like it was shot out of a cannon, angled out of bounds at the OR 20. Third great kick in a row, this guy is redeeming himself. Puntguy rating: 74

2:10 - OR runner falls down well short of a first down, 4th & 8 from the AZ 47, OR punter has an opportunity here for a great punt... looked like a great punt, bounced at the 5 but not enough english on it and the bounced just across the goal line for a TB. BUT WAIT... there's a flag - holding against the Ducks. AZ starts at the 30 for a post-penalty net of 17 yds. Puntguy rating: 59

Fourth Qtr

15:00 - Great way to start off a quarter, with a punt. AZ in 4th & 6 from the OR 45, good coaching decision to go for the punt here... Another high snap, nice high punt bounces backwards at the 6 right into the hands of an OR player standing around at the 10 yd line who picks up 3 on the return. Puntguy rating: 73

13:28 - Only 90 seconds later, OR is punting in a 4th & 2 sitch from their own 22... Kicks it to the AZ 44 and it takes a nice roll OOB at the AZ 36. Puntguy rating: 42

10:36 - AZ going for it on 4th & 11 from the OR 31 but a flag for a false start and now its 4 & 16 at the OR 36, perfect spot for a punt but being down 37 the coach decides to go for it again. Two yd run means they failed and OR gets the ball on downs. Should have punted there dude.

9:50 - OR has replaced their starters already but I wonder if they will also replace their punter because he's being outplayed by the AZ punter right now.

6:32 - It's been an active and nice fantasy football day for these punters.

0:00 - Ackkk - the game ran over and my DVR shut down, fucking me over again. I just caught the AZ garbage time TD to end the game but based on the score it doesn't look like I missed any more punts. Thanks for sticking around, Check back on Sunday for another live blog (game TBD).

Punt of the Year contender

This was really something! Justin Vogel punts (and kicks) for Florida's Miami Hurricanes. Even though his team got their asses beat by the Pitt Panthers this past weekend, he stole the show with this stellar five-star, 58-yard punt that left everyone speechless. After you watch it, I highly recommend you re-watch in slo-mo (under settings).



Puntguy rating: 40 68!

Worst "punt" ever

Earlier this season, Arkansas State attempted a really bad idea which involved having one player fall over and die!! WTF?!

[This] is the worst fake punt in the history of fake punts. Watch it a million billion trillion times.

The even worser idea was to fake the punt!! This is why you should, almost always, JUST PUNT the fucking ball for chrissakes!

Admittedly, this is far from the worst punt ever. In fact, it was basically just as effective as a really shitty punt. The worst punt (or even fake punt) ever would always have to result in a TD for the other team.

Puntguy rating: 15

Punting-metrics

Here is some great appreciation and love for the art of punting...

I was fully prepared to write a post about how the statistic "punts inside the twenty" is completely worthless and misleading. After doing a little research, I don't think it is completely worthless. I do, however, think that it has the potential to be a bit misleading.

When you think about the statistic, what comes to mind? For 90% of you, the response is probably, "I don't think about punters and their statistics." Fair enough. For me, it conveys the preciseness or accuracy of the punter in pinning the opponent near the goal line. But if that's the purpose, it seems like the statistic is too broad to accomplish that... I would prefer that we use a "punts inside the ten" or "punts inside the ten versus touchback ratio", as a smarter, more focused, statistic. Or better yet, the average opponent's starting position following mid-field punts.

The author goes on to conduct a statistical analysis of punts from the 2008 season, concluding that Philadelphia Eagles' punter Sav Rocca was on fire that season.

The best punter in these mid-field punting situations has so far been Sav Rocca and the Philadelphia Eagles coverage unit. Four punts inside the 3 and Seven within 10 yards of the goal line compared to only one touchback is pretty impressive.

There are also some great ideas in the Comments section, this one in particular gave me a boner.

I was wondering what a stat that measured percentage of available yards would look like. (Net of touchbacks, but not return yards.) For instance a team punts from the 50, the best possible punt would be 49 yards (ball can't be on the goal line). If a punter punted a 49-yard punt, he would get a score of 98% on that punt. If a team punts from its own 20, the best possible would be 79 yards. If the punt goes 50 yards, he'd earn a score of 63%.

For your viewing pleasure, here is a vintage Sav Rocca punt carried over from the old website, circa the 2010-2011 NFC Playoffs.

We're back

By popular demand.