In their win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles made four plays on special teams that helped contribute to the win. Let's look at all four, in chronological order.
Braden Mann punts 58 yards to BLT 1, downed by Sydney Brown
Facing a 4th and 2 at their own 41 yard line, Nick Sirianni opted to punt, a debatable decision that worked out. Braden Mann had the wind in his face, so he hit a low line drive to keep it from getting hung up in the wind.
"The wind was coming into me a little bit, so that's why I kept it lower there to fight the wind," Mann said. "And then it's just kind of luck of the bounce. Sometimes you get a good bounce, sometimes you get a bad bounce."
The ball took a soft bounce, where Sydney Brown was able to down it at the 1 yard line. It was a great punt, but it was even better punt coverage by Brown.
If you'll notice, the jammer opposite Brown (top of the screen) is Ravens rookie Nate Wiggins (2), who ran a 4.28 at the 2024 NFL Combine, and Brown dusts him. Wiggins even shoved him in the back (no call), before Brown planted his heels at the 1 and let the ball roll to him.
The speed with which Brown got down the field to down a low line drive was highly impressive.
On the Ravens' ensuing drive, Ravens RG Daniel Faalale held DT Jalen Carter in the end zone, which should have resulted in a safety, but the officials weren't calling holding in this game, so it went unflagged.
Instead, the Ravens went three-and-out, punted, and the Eagles got the ball in Ravens territory. The Eagles then scored their first touchdown of the game on a short field.
"We spend so much time on +50 (pin deep) punting," Nick Sirianni said. "We talk about it so much. We show all the ones from college from the week, we show all the ones from the NFL from the week, because we know how critical it is. If you can back a team up and you can get a stop that usually equals points."
Jordan Stout punts 43 yards to PHI 28, Britain Covey pushed out of bounds at PHI 32 for 4 yards
Most returners are just going to let this punt go, but Covey routinely fields these.
That ball probably would've rolled another 10 yards if Covey hadn't fielded it. So he got 4 yards on the return and saved 10. That's 14 fewer yards the offense had to go to get into the end zone or field goal position (duh), and they happened to score a touchdown on the ensuing drive.
Fielding punts like that will hurt return averages.
"This is where you have to not care about your punt return average," Covey said. "You have to really put your pride aside and say, 'These are hidden yards.' Coach knows it, the players know it, and that's all that matters."
Braden Mann punts 48 yards to BLT 5, downed by Kelee Ringo
On Mann's second great punt of the night, Ravens returner Tylan Wallace tried to hustle over and make a fair catch, but he couldn't make it over in time.
The ball checked up, and Brown once again had his heels planted at the 1. The ball didn't quite roll like Mann's earlier punt, so Kelee Ringo scooped it up at the 5.
"If it's low enough, he doesn't get there in time, which is what happened on that one," Mann said.
"I know it's windy and snowy, but [simply fielding the punt] is priority number one," Covey said. "It's tough. Braden does a good job of putting weird spins on the ball, and no excuses, as a returner you gotta go catch it."
The Ravens drove about 40 yards to their own 44 before lining up to punt on 4th and 5. If Wallace had been able to field Mann's punt at the 12, that would've saved 7 yards. Maybe the Ravens would have gone for it at the Eagles' 49 yard line instead of punting from their own 44? I don't know 🤷♂️. The Eagles never had to find out. They punted, which brings us to… 👇.
Jordan Stout punts 42 yards to PHI 19, Britain Covey to PHI 29 for 10 yards
The second play by Covey that saved hidden yards was on a punt that I timed at an extremely low 2.98 seconds of hang time. Covey hustled up to catch the punt in the air, and then even got 10 yards on the return. If he lets this punt bounce it is almost certainly going to roll inside the 10.
“When the field is slick like it was the ball can roll from 10 to 15 yards and put you in a bad spot,” special teams coordinator Michael Clay said. “The one that kind of dove on him was a punt of 42 yards, but he caught it. You never know what’s going to happen. That ball could roll an extra 15 yards and now you’re inside the 10. Instead, he got a 10 yard return and it’s only a net punt of 32.”
Oh, and hey, guess what! The Eagles scored a touchdown on their ensuing drive.
"They didn't catch their balls," Sirianni said, "and we caught ours."
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