Will The Green Bay Packers Finally Treat Special Teams Like They Truly Matter?

For nearly two decades now, special teams in Green Bay have simply been an afterthought.

The Packers have consistently produced an elite offense.

Green Bay’s top draft pick has come on the defensive side of the football nine of the last 10 years.

Special teams? Yawn!

They’ve been the forgotten child at 1265 Lombardi Ave. year after painful year.

Green Bay has a chance to finally fix that.

The Packers fired special teams coach Maurice Drayton on Tuesday after a dreadful season in which Green Bay finished last in rankings compiled by longtime NFL write Rick Gosselin. While the Packers’ special teams were poorly coached and ill-prepared for much of what they encountered, Drayton was also the fall guy for an organization that simply hasn’t valued special teams.

As the Packers now look for their sixth special teams coach since 2008, perhaps they’ll give more than lip service to the importance of those units.

“I also think we can do a much better job starting with myself emphasizing the special teams,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said last week. “We’ve got to look at everything and that starts with myself just making sure that it is a main priority for us.”

Over the past 17 seasons, the Packers finished dead last in special teams rankings five times — in 2005, 2006, 2014, 2018 and 2021. Green Bay also finished between 26^th and 31^st six other times — in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2019 and 2020.

On two occasions since 2014, special teams were a major reason the Packers were knocked out of the playoffs. And both of those seasons, Green Bay had the NFL’s 32^nd-ranked special teams.

In the 2014 NFC title game — with a berth to the Super Bowl on the line — Green Bay led Seattle, 16-0, with just less than 5 minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Seahawks lined up for a 37-yard field goal and Jon Ryan — a one-time Packer — was Seattle’s holder.

Seattle knew Green Bay liked to crash hard off the left side, and Ryan pulled the ball down and took off in that direction. Linebacker A.J. Hawk was then stuck in no-man’s land, and when he charged at Ryan, the crafty punter lofted a 19-yard touchdown pass to Gary Gilliam.

Then, with the Packers clinging to a 19-14 lead with 2:09 left in the game, Seattle’s lone hope was an onside kick. Steven Hauschka’s kick went to third string tight end Brandon Bostick, whose only job on the play was to block.

Instead, Bostick lunged for the ball, fumbled it away, and the Packers eventually lost in overtime, 28-22.

Just days later, Packers coach Mike McCarthy fired special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum — something he could have done earlier that season as the gaffes continued to grow.

“Our special team errors have been critical,” McCarthy said.

LaFleur can certainly relate.

Green Bay’s special teams produced a comedy of errors throughout the regular season, yet LaFleur did nothing to address the problem. Then in Green Bay’s 13-10 loss to San Francisco in the divisional playoffs, a collection of special teams blunders helped end the Packers’ season.

The biggest disaster came with 4:41 left in the game. Green Bay led, 10-3, and had a fourth-and-19 from its own 12-yard line.

Punter Corey Bojorquez lined up 2 yards deep in his own endzone and 49ers defensive lineman Jordan Willis ran over long snapper Steven Wirtel and blocked the punt. Safety Talanoa Hufanga picked up the ball at the 7-yard line and raced to the endzone to tie the game.

Larry McCarren, the longtime color commentator on the Packers’ radio network, summed it up best.

“What a nightmare,” McCarren screamed. “What a meltdown.”

There were more.

At the end of the first half, Jimmie Ward raced off the right edge and blocked a 39-yard Mason Crosby field goal. That would have given the Packers a 10-0 lead at halftime instead of the 7-0 advantage they held.

San Francisco wideout Deebo Samuel returned a kickoff 45 yards to midfield to open the second half, which led to a 49ers field goal. And on the final play of the game — a 45-yard field goal from San Francisco’s Robbie Gould — the Packers had just 10 men on the field.

Now, the pressure is on LaFleur to hire a proven special teams coach, and on general manager Brian Gutekunst to provide them with more talent.

Green Bay, which has nearly $500 million in cash reserves, has traditionally refused to pay top dollar for a special teams coach. The latest example came in 2019 when the Packers wouldn’t meet the price of top special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi.

Under Rizzi’s guidance, the Saints ranked No. 1, No. 5 and No. 5 the last three seasons. On the flip side, Green Bay ranked 26^th, 29^th and 32^nd — and LaFleur’s has already fired both Shawn Mennenga and Drayton from that position.

The heat is also on Gutekunst to find players to upgrade the units. Green Bay’s last dominant special teams player was cornerback Jarrett Bush, and he hasn’t been with the team since 2014.

At his season-ending press conference, LaFleur talked about having a couple roster spots saved for players whose primary job was special teams

“Maybe having a couple guys that potentially that’s their value is what they bring to teams,” LaFleur said.

Packer Nation is still in awe their season is over. They’re furious that special teams were again a culprit.

Now, after nearly two decades of ineptitude, it’s time Green Bay began treating special teams like they truly mattered.

GREEN BAY PACKERS SPECIAL TEAMS RANKINGS

2005 — 32nd

2006 — 32^nd

2007 — 7^th

2008 — 26th

2009 — 31st

2010 — 29th

2011 — 13th

2012 — 12th

2013 — 20th

2014 — 32nd

2015 — 17th

2016 — 29th

2017 — 16th

2018 — 32nd

2019 — 26th

2020 — 29^th

2021 — 32nd