FOXBORO — For all the talk about the Miami’s vaunted Wildcat offense, it was special teams that sunk the Jets last week against the Dolphins, specifically Ted Ginn Jr.
A week after being demoted from his usual role of wide receiver to full-time special teamer, Ginn returned a pair of kicks for touchdowns in Miami’s win over New York at the Meadowlands, one going for 100 yards and the second going for 101. He became the eighth player in NFL history to have two kickoff returns for touchdowns in the same game, and the first NFL player to run back two kickoffs for touchdowns in the same quarter since Green Bay’s Travis Williams did it in 1967. Ginn ended up with 299 returns yards on the day.
The performance sparked hyperbole from Jets special teams coach Mike Westhoff.
“The worst. Worst ever for me, ever,” Westhoff told reporters who asked about Ginn on Monday. “Absolute worst. We gave them the game. … It won’t go away until they lower me in the grave.”
Patriots special teams captain Sam Aiken watched Ginn’s performance, and was suitably impressed.
“No matter what angle you take, you’re not catching him,” Aiken said when asked what he took from Ginn’s performance. “That’s why they draft guys like that, to make big plays like that. You take those two returns away, it’s a different game. You have guys back there you know can make big plays.”
Ginn is just the latest big-time kick returner New England will face this season. Buffalo’s Leodis McKelvin was one of the best in the league in 2008, and racked up nearly 100 yards on four returns in the season opener against the Patriots. New York’s Leon Washington was in the top five in most major categories last season, and gashed New England with a game-changing 43-yard return in Week 2. The Patriots were lucky to duck Tampa Bay’s Clifton Smith, a kick returner in the top five in most major return categories this season.
No such luck this week, as Ginn appears ready to play. Thanks in large part to what he did last week, the Ohio State product leads the league in average yards per return (34.9) and touchdowns (two).
Don’t expect Westhoff-style hyperbole from Patriots coach Bill Belichick, but Belichick said Ginn has every right to be mentioned in the same class as McKelvin, Washington or Smith.
“We’ve seen top returners every week, and this is another one,” Belichick said of Ginn. “I don’t know that we or any team in the league has more than one or two, if that, people that could run with Ted Ginn.
“Leverage, tackling and discipline in our lanes and recognizing blocking schemes and doing a good job of tackling — all that is going to be crucial against Miami this week.”
There’s no doubt he has the speed, as well as the rest of the obvious physical characteristics needed to succeed as a return man. But according to Aiken, it’s not just the physical skill set that makes Ginn special. Aiken said Ginn has the rare gift of having what he calls “the total package” in a kick returner — vision and instinct.
“It’s the total package,” Aiken said of Ginn. “To be a good kick returner, you have to have vision. You have some guys who are fast, but can’t react. You have some guys who are fast and can react because they can see the opening. They can see where the defender is coming from.
“It’s all about vision and instinct.”
The Patriots are in the middle of the pack when it comes to kick coverage: they are no higher than 11th, no lower than 20th in every major category. When they have had success in kick coverage, it’s because they’ve stuck to the fundamentals, something they’ve done lately. As a result, the average yardage allowed on each kickoff has decreased steadily, from 31.8 yards allowed per return in Week 2 against the Jets to 17.7 yards per return in a Week 7 win over Tampa Bay.
“Keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Aiken said. “Stay in focus. Maintain your lanes. Keep doing what we’ve been doing.”
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