Cheesehead
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- Mar 19, 2019
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GREEN BAY – Head Coach Matt LaFleur hasn't minced words about it all week.
"We're going to have to have our best performance of the season on special teams," LaFleur said referring to Sunday's matchup against the Colts in Indianapolis. "And our guys know that."
It's easy to see where LaFleur is coming from.
Go back a little over a month, and Indy rookie cornerback Isaiah Rodgers returned a kickoff 101 yards for a touchdown vs. Cleveland.
Then a week ago, the play of the game in the Colts' big AFC South victory at Tennessee was a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown. Linebacker E.J. Speed was named the AFC's special teams player of the week for the highlight.
That punt rusher's last name is what the Colts are all about in the game's third phase, and they've used speed not just to make those big plays but provide a steady presence in the field-position game all season.
They're ranked in the top half of the league defending both punt and kickoff returns, and even taking away Rodgers' 101-yarder to the house, he's still averaging 25.6 yards per kickoff return, well above Green Bay's 17.4-yard average.
"They bring him out from deep," Packers special teams coordinator Shawn Mennenga said of Rodgers, a sixth-round draft pick from UMass. "Very dangerous. He's a threat every time he touches the ball.
"It's definitely the most complete unit that I've seen so far."