How "heads-up" Jake Bailey helped contribute to Gunner Olszewski muffing punt
BOSTON -- Letting a punt bounce off your face mask in the middle of an NFL game is a lonely feeling. But such a miscue is not only the fault of the return man.
In the case of Gunner Olszewski's costly muffed punt on Sunday in Pittsburgh, he was obviously not put in the best position to succeed, after the Steelers got just 10 men on the field for that play. That miscue left Brenden Schooler uncovered as the left gunner, and his presence bearing down on Olszewski no doubt contributed to Olszewski failing to field the punt cleanly.
Call it gunner on Gunner crime, if you will.
Yet while that part of the equation was obvious, Patriots special teams coordinator Cam Achord credited punter Jake Bailey for recognizing the situation and adjusting his punt accordingly.
"I mean, obviously, [Bailey] sees Schooler's uncovered right there and everything. So rather than pinning the ball where Gunner is not going to have a chance to field it, now he's going to hit a higher ball right there, a sky ball, which forces the ball to move more in the air," Achord explained. "So he hit a different pitch, you know, used a different club to hit right there, which left the more hang time on the ball and actually put a little bit more backspin on the football, which helped contribute to the muff right there. And Schools obviously made a great play to be in front."
Bailey was a First Team All-Pro punter in 2020, an honor which is generally gauged by punts downed inside the 20-yard line. Long punts can also help a punter pop off the stat page. Yet an adjustment like the one described by Achord is the type of play that can change games. (The Patriots scored what proved to be the game-winning points after retaining possession off Olszewski's misplay.)
Sure enough, a review of the kick shows that Bailey's punt was much shorter than what he is capable of delivering on a regular basis.
Earlier in the game, with the Patriots at their own 42-yard line, Bailey sent a punt all the way into the end zone -- which wasn't an ideal outcome, but shows that a punt from near midfield is generally heading toward the goal line.
On the muffed punt, the Patriots had the ball in almost the exact same spot, at their own 43-yard line -- albeit heading in the opposite direction. That punt came down at the 20-yard line, which required Olszewski to run up to meet the ball, where Schooler was eagerly waiting.
"That was really a heads-up, alert play by Jake, making an adjustment before the snap and really executing at a high level and taking advantage of a mistake by Pittsburgh," said Matthew Slater, who was dealing with two Steelers in his face as the other gunner on the play. "I can't say enough good things about Jake. He's one of the best punters I've seen in the last 15 years, and I think he's only going to continue to get better."
