This breakdown not good
Patriots' coverage has been porous
FOXBOROUGH - Before he was a household name, Bill Belichick was an anonymous young assistant who coached special teams.
After he broke into the league in 1975 as a special assistant with the Baltimore Colts, Belichick spent the next three seasons, starting in Detroit in 1976 and ending in Denver in 1978, with assistant special teams coach as part of his title. He also coached special teams in the first four seasons of his 12-year stint as a New York Giants assistant.
So, you know it pains Belichick to see plays like the 76-yard punt return for a touchdown ripped off by Philadelphia Eagles rookie DeSean Jackson on the final play of the first half of the Patriots' 27-17 exhibition loss to the Eagles Friday night. Following that play, Belichick vituperated punter Chris Hanson and special teams coach Brad Seely, one of the few times he's shown visible anger over his team's disappointing play this preseason (0-3).
As much attention as the underwhelming performances of the Patriots offense and defense have gotten, nowhere has New England looked less ready to start the season than on special teams, particularly the coverage units, which have allowed four punt or kickoff returns of 40-plus yards.
It was two special teams scores that turned the tide against the Eagles, creating a 24-3 halftime deficit. After they cut Philadelphia's lead to 10-3 on a Stephen Gostkowski 35-yard field goal, the Patriots then watched Quintin Demps dash 101 yards to the end zone, taking the momentum of the game with him. Then the parting of the punt coverage for Jackson punctuated the half.
After the game, Belichick was asked if special teams was the last thing to come together during the preseason. His answer, which was no, made it clear he expects better play from the unit, which outside of Gostkowski's performance (5 for 5 on field goals) has been anything but special.
"We just haven't really found our groove on the special teams side of the ball," said wide receiver Kelley Washington, one of the team's key performers on coverage units last season. "For myself, particularly, I felt rusty because it was my first game, but we just have to do a better job as a team, as a special teams unit, going down and making plays like we did last year."
Last year the Patriots did a good job covering kicks and punts. The Patriots punt coverage ranked second in the NFL, allowing just 5.4 yards per return, with a long return of 33 and no touchdowns. The kickoff coverage unit allowed 22.1 yards per return to rank 11th in the NFL and surrendered just one touchdown, a 74-yarder by Domenik Hixon of the New York Giants in the final game of the regular season.
This preseason, the Patriots are allowing 23.1 yards per punt return on seven attempts, and on kickoffs opposing returners are averaging 34 yards per return in eight tries. Coverage breakdowns have directly contributed to 24 of the 70 points the Patriots have allowed thus far.
Against Baltimore, Yamon Figurs had a 52-yard punt return that would have been a touchdown if not for the extraordinary effort of rookie linebacker Gary Guyton, who chased down Figurs at the 2. However, it did set up a 1-yard touchdown run. Then later in the same second quarter, Figurs had a 48-yard kickoff return that allowed Baltimore to start at its 46. The result was a 44-yard field goal.
"There's just no way we can have returns going back on us, putting our defense in a tough situation and putting our team in a tough situation," said Washington.
It's not just the players covering that have to do a better job.
On the two long kickoff returns, Gostkowski managed to put the ball into the end zone, which is his job, but on Jackson's punt return, it appeared Hanson was supposed to put the ball out of bounds or pin Jackson closer to the sideline than he did.
And while the Patriots' punt and kickoff coverage has been less than stellar, improvement is also needed in the return game.
Last season, the Patriots ranked fourth in the league in kickoff return average at 25.2 yards per return and produced two touchdowns, including an NFL-record 108-yarder by Ellis Hobbs, who averaged 26 yards per return, seventh best in the NFL in 2007. With wide receiver Wes Welker as the primary punt returner, New England was 11th in return average at 9.4 yards per return and no touchdowns.
Patriots punt returners, who have included Welker, Chad Jackson, C.J. Jones, and rookie Terrence Wheatley, are averaging just 4.7 yards per return in seven attempts during the preseason. Wheatley muffed a fourth-quarter punt against Philadelphia.
Despite the presence of exciting rookie Matthew Slater, the kickoff return unit has yet to provide a real spark but has averaged a solid 24.1 yards per return in 16 tries, with a long of 36 turned in by Hobbs against the Eagles.
Washington said special teams are often a tone-setter. If that's the case, then the Patriots' struggles on special teams are trickling down to the rest of the team.
There is still a lot of ground for special teams to cover between now and the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs Sept. 7.
"We're going to continue working on it in practice," said Washington. "We only have another week before we get started, but we take a lot of pride in our special teams unit, especially our kickoff, because the way we cover kicks really sets the tone."
Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com. 