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posted 12/23/2007
CHICAGO - For all the positive impact the Packers' special teams have made lately, there were seemingly nothing but struggles on Sunday.
"We did some awful things, and those things cost us dearly," special teams coach Mike Stock said.
Those awful things made for a forgettable day for punter Jon Ryan, who fumbled one snap, had two punts blocked, and had another shank off his shin in the 35-7 loss to the Bears.
The key culprit was the wind. Ryan struggled catching Rob Davis' long punt snaps that were being pushed sideways as much as 2 or 3 yards by winds that gusted up to 40 miles per hour, and the timing on virtually every punt was messed up as a result.
On his first punt of the day, Ryan said he "over-thought" the situation, knowing the wind was going to move the snap and make him rush to get it off, and as a result he dropped the ball, getting tackled just after picking it up.
Then on his next attempt, punting from near his own goal line, Ryan's kick was blocked by Darrell McGlover and recovered by Brendon Ayanbadejo at the Green Bay 7.
As with the first miscue, fortunately this one didn't result in any Chicago points, as the Bears' fourth-and-goal pass bounced off the chest of receiver Muhsin Muhammad, keeping the score just 3-0.
But the block snapped a significant streak for the Packers, who hadn't had a punt blocked in 929 consecutive kicks, dating back to Sept. 11, 1995, ironically at Soldier Field. In that game, on a Monday night, Chicago's Anthony Marshall got to Green Bay's Craig Hentrich.
Ryan couldn't say if the extra concentration he put into fielding the snap slowed down his delivery too much, or whether there was simply a protection breakdown.
"Naturally it was taking a little longer to field the ball because of the way it was moving, and I have to make sure I catch it first, but I don't think it was taking any more time than normal," Ryan said. "We'll have to look at the film."
Ryan did prove on his next effort that the proper execution was possible, booming a 47-yard punt from his own 8-yard line that return threat Devin Hester had to backpedal and fair-catch.
But that didn't manage to turn Ryan's day for the better.
At the end of the first half, with the Packers stalled near midfield, Ryan slightly bobbled another snap and then rushed to get the punt off under pressure. He ended up kicking the ball with his shin rather than his foot, and it took a hard left and wobbled out of bounds at the Chicago 45 for just a 9-yard punt.
"It's one of those things where I felt the pressure coming," Ryan said. "I moved a couple yards over to field the snap and knew that's where the pressure was coming, so I just quickly dropped it and kicked it and got whatever I could out of it. I don't know if it was going to be blocked or not."
The Bears took advantage, driving 55 yards in 1 minute, 31 seconds, for a touchdown that gave them the lead for good at 13-7.
Chicago then essentially put the game away early in the second half with a second blocked punt. Charles Tillman rushed untouched from Ryan's right, stuffed the punt, and Corey Graham scooped it up and returned it 7 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-7 midway through the third quarter.
The Bears used a common tactic to get Tillman free on the rush. Originally lined up wide on one of the punt gunners, Tillman scooted over closer to the ball just before the snap and came full steam.
Stock said the Packers have a protection call they make to account for the shift, which they've executed in practice and in previous games. But Tillman delayed just long enough before revealing his move, and the snap was on its way to Ryan before any protection change could be made.
"The timing was such the snap was occurring at the same time he was initiating his action, and the call we normally make to take care of that couldn't take place," Stock said. "It just happened they hit it just right, and those things happen."
It was just that kind of day, both for the Packers and the Bears. And for all the talk during the week about stopping or slowing down Hester, it turned out there was far more to be concerned with.
"We kind of knew that they had to do some things on special teams in order to beat us," Davis said. "That's kind of how we felt, and they got it done. It wasn't Devin Hester, it was the blocked punts."
It may not be 12 years before the next blocked punt, but at least now there's no reason for another one to occur in the next several weeks.
"If you can't learn from something like this, then it was pointless," Ryan said. "We'll definitely learn from this, and we'll have to move on and put it behind us and go on to next week."