NFC North: Brian Murphjy
Posted by ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert
We encourage interaction here at ESPN.com. Sometimes it’s a bit one-sided, but I do my best. You spew bile and/or make comments through the mailbag, over on Facebook or on Twitter. For an adrenaline rush, click here. For something on the lighter side, check this out. (And don’t you dare skip the intro.)
Let’s get to it….
Pat of Milwaukee writes: Something I haven't heard much detail about from you is special teams. Thought it was interesting that in Football Outsiders' special teams rankings the Vikings are second in the NFL. Remember how they were HORRIBLE on special teams last year? Looks like another reason for their success this year, besides the obvious AP/Favre combo.
Kevin Seifert: I haven’t devoted an entire post to it, Pat, but I agree. There is no doubt the Vikings have made dramatic improvements in their coverage -- at least since Week 1, when Cleveland’s Josh Cribbs returned a punt 63 yards for a touchdown. New special teams coordinator Brian Murphy deserves some credit, as does an influx of cover men from Kenny Onatolu (12 tackles) to Jasper Brinkley (eight) to Karl Paymah (seven). The return of special teams ace Heath Farwell (10) has also helped.
When you look at Football Outsiders’ rankings, it’s interesting to note the Vikings are not the only high-rated NFC North special teams group. Here’s where the four NFC North teams rank:
2. Minnesota
3. Chicago
23. Green Bay
29. Detroit
FO’s methodology is pretty complex. In essence, it takes five elements of special teams -- field goals/extra points, kickoffs, kick returns, punts, punt returns -- and assigns a performance statistic based on the yard line achieved in each endeavor. Those figures are then compared to the league average, adjusted based on weather/altitude and compiled into a ranking. A fuller explanation is here.
If you’re a regular reader, you know that I’m a big fan of FO’s work. But even if you don’t buy into their method for evaluation, you can at least accept that in this case, each team was considered using the same criteria. So each team’s ranking is relative to the others, giving you at least one fair version of how everyone compares to each other.
That’s a long way of saying that Vikings’ and Bears’ special teams have been performing at a high level this season relative to the rest of the league. The Packers’ and the Lions’ have not.
Mat of Seattle writes: Correction to the Challenge Tracker: You list Jim Schwartz's percentage as "--", as though it is not computable. In fact, his success rate is 0%. Total failure can be easily expressed as a percentage. For example, one has no problem understanding that the Vikings have won 100% of their games against the Packers this year, while the Packers have won 0% of those games. See?
Kevin Seifert: Thanks for correcting the terminology. I suppose 0-for-2 is 0 percent, but I maintain that 0-for-0 would still be “--.“ For example, one has no problem understanding that math majors get “--“ percent of the girls. (Goes for history majors, too.)
Ben of Chicago writes: Is Jarron Gilbert going to get a chance to play this year? Do the Bears even have a position for him? (Three technique? ... DE?) I understand that rookies often need a year or two to adjust to the NFL, but with the lesson Bears fans took away from Michael Haynes -- the team never said a word, he just never played and then got released -- I am a bit worried. I guess what I really want to know is: Do the Bears think Gilbert is part of their future, or are they just holding onto him to save face and because of his draft status?
Kevin Seifert: First of all, I wouldn’t compare Gilbert to Haynes in terms of their draft status. Gilbert was a third-round pick. Haynes was taken in the first round. If Gilbert never contributes, it would hardly qualify as the flop that Haynes was.
Gilbert mostly was used at the three-technique during training camp, and I’ve wondered if he would somehow surface during this latest run of uncertainty for defensive tackle Tommie Harris. Israel Idonije filled in for Harris last week, a reasonable move. But if Harris really is in his final season with the Bears, as some are suggesting, it might be nice to get Gilbert on the field at some point to give coaches a baseline for evaluating him next offseason.
We encourage interaction here at ESPN.com. Sometimes it’s a bit one-sided, but I do my best. You spew bile and/or make comments through the mailbag, over on Facebook or on Twitter. For an adrenaline rush, click here. For something on the lighter side, check this out. (And don’t you dare skip the intro.)
Let’s get to it….
Pat of Milwaukee writes: Something I haven't heard much detail about from you is special teams. Thought it was interesting that in Football Outsiders' special teams rankings the Vikings are second in the NFL. Remember how they were HORRIBLE on special teams last year? Looks like another reason for their success this year, besides the obvious AP/Favre combo.
Kevin Seifert: I haven’t devoted an entire post to it, Pat, but I agree. There is no doubt the Vikings have made dramatic improvements in their coverage -- at least since Week 1, when Cleveland’s Josh Cribbs returned a punt 63 yards for a touchdown. New special teams coordinator Brian Murphy deserves some credit, as does an influx of cover men from Kenny Onatolu (12 tackles) to Jasper Brinkley (eight) to Karl Paymah (seven). The return of special teams ace Heath Farwell (10) has also helped.
When you look at Football Outsiders’ rankings, it’s interesting to note the Vikings are not the only high-rated NFC North special teams group. Here’s where the four NFC North teams rank:
2. Minnesota
3. Chicago
23. Green Bay
29. Detroit
FO’s methodology is pretty complex. In essence, it takes five elements of special teams -- field goals/extra points, kickoffs, kick returns, punts, punt returns -- and assigns a performance statistic based on the yard line achieved in each endeavor. Those figures are then compared to the league average, adjusted based on weather/altitude and compiled into a ranking. A fuller explanation is here.
If you’re a regular reader, you know that I’m a big fan of FO’s work. But even if you don’t buy into their method for evaluation, you can at least accept that in this case, each team was considered using the same criteria. So each team’s ranking is relative to the others, giving you at least one fair version of how everyone compares to each other.
That’s a long way of saying that Vikings’ and Bears’ special teams have been performing at a high level this season relative to the rest of the league. The Packers’ and the Lions’ have not.
Mat of Seattle writes: Correction to the Challenge Tracker: You list Jim Schwartz's percentage as "--", as though it is not computable. In fact, his success rate is 0%. Total failure can be easily expressed as a percentage. For example, one has no problem understanding that the Vikings have won 100% of their games against the Packers this year, while the Packers have won 0% of those games. See?
Kevin Seifert: Thanks for correcting the terminology. I suppose 0-for-2 is 0 percent, but I maintain that 0-for-0 would still be “--.“ For example, one has no problem understanding that math majors get “--“ percent of the girls. (Goes for history majors, too.)
Ben of Chicago writes: Is Jarron Gilbert going to get a chance to play this year? Do the Bears even have a position for him? (Three technique? ... DE?) I understand that rookies often need a year or two to adjust to the NFL, but with the lesson Bears fans took away from Michael Haynes -- the team never said a word, he just never played and then got released -- I am a bit worried. I guess what I really want to know is: Do the Bears think Gilbert is part of their future, or are they just holding onto him to save face and because of his draft status?
Kevin Seifert: First of all, I wouldn’t compare Gilbert to Haynes in terms of their draft status. Gilbert was a third-round pick. Haynes was taken in the first round. If Gilbert never contributes, it would hardly qualify as the flop that Haynes was.
Gilbert mostly was used at the three-technique during training camp, and I’ve wondered if he would somehow surface during this latest run of uncertainty for defensive tackle Tommie Harris. Israel Idonije filled in for Harris last week, a reasonable move. But if Harris really is in his final season with the Bears, as some are suggesting, it might be nice to get Gilbert on the field at some point to give coaches a baseline for evaluating him next offseason.
BACK TO TOP
Page: 1
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Kevin Seifert
Seifert joined ESPN.com in 2008 after covering the Minnesota Vikings for the Minneapolis Star Tribune for eight years. He lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and children.
