Rick Gosselin’s 2000 NFL Special Teams Rankings

First crown for Miami special teams coach Mike Westhoff

(Published February 2001)

The best offense and defense in the NFL are easily identifiable. But not so the best special teams.

St. Louis has stocked the NFL’s highest-scoring offense with league MVPs (Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk), Pro Bowlers (Isaac Bruce and Orlando Pace) and first-round draft picks (Torry Holt).

Baltimore has stocked the NFL’s stingiest defense with all-decade selections (Rod Woodson), Pro Bowlers (Ray Lewis and Sam Adams) and first-round picks (Peter Boulware and Chris McAlister).

But the Miami Dolphins crafted the league’s best kicking game without any such names or reputations. With essentially a cast of free agents and castoffs, the Dolphins finished atop the NFL special-teams rankings compiled annually by Rick Gosselin.

The league’s 31 teams are ranked in 19 categories and assigned points according to their standing _ one for the best, 31 for the worst. The Dolphins won with a score of 167.5 points, 35.5 fewer than runnerup Carolina.

Coverage ace Larry Izzo signed with Miami as an undrafted rookie in 1996, and kicker Olindo Mare signed up a year later. Deep-snapper Brody Heffner-Liddiard, kick returner Autry Denson and coverman Twan Russell all were cut by other teams, and punter Matt Turk and punt returner Jeff Ogden were acquired by trade in offseason fire sales.

Yet the Dolphins ranked in the Top 10 in 14 of the 19 kicking-game categories. Miami didn’t allow any negative plays — no kicks blocked or returned for touchdowns — and ranked in the Top 5 in both kickoff and punt coverage.

Miami’s Mike Westhoff did his job better than any special-teams coach in the league in 2000. But he was inherited by Dave Wannstedt from Jimmy Johnson, who inherited him from Don Shula. Wannstedt fired Westhoff at the end of the season so he could hire his special-teams coach of choice (Keith Armstrong).

Westhoff, 53, has surfaced in 2001 as special-teams coach of the New York Jets, where the process begins anew. Once upon a time Westhoff wanted to be an NFL head coach. But not any more. Head coaches have to worry about the salary cap. Special teams coaches don’t.

“I deal with the other end of the spectrum,” Westhoff said. “I get that young kid coming out of college who just wants to make the team and everyone likes being around. I’m surrounded by those guys. I’m really having a ball coaching them.”

Izzo led the Dolphins with 31 special-teams tackles and was selected for the Pro Bowl. Undrafted rookie Trent Gamble and Russell were next with 26 tackles apiece. Mare kicked 90 percent of his field goals and Odgen returned a punt 81 yards for a touchdown against Green Bay.

The Oakland Raiders made the biggest jump in the rankings, moving up from 26th in 1999 to sixth in 2000. Rookie kickers Sebastian Janikowski and Shane Lechler helped the Raiders win their first AFC West title since 1990.

RankTeamScore
1Miami167.5
2Carolina203
3Tennessee218.5
4Baltimore222
5Seattle223.5
6Oakland225
7New England227
8Philadelphia238
9Detroit240
10Dallas247.5
11Tampa Bay251.5
12Green Bay265.5
13Pittsburgh272
14Atlanta276
15Chicago283
16Jacksonville302
17Arizona305
18Minnesota307
19Indianapolis325.5
20St. Louis334
21Cleveland338.5
22Denver343
23NY Jets352
24NY Giants355.5
25Kansas City362.5
26Cincinnati386.5
2728New Orleans394
San Diego399
29Washington441.5
30San Francisco448.5
31Buffalo469.5

 Here’s a breakdown of the 21 categories:

KICKOFF RETURNS

Best: Arizona, 26.6 yards

Worst: Buffalo, 18.2 yards

PUNT RETURNS

Best: Baltimore, 15.8 yards

Worst: Buffalo, 5.0 yards

KICKOFF COVERAGE

Best: Carolina, 17.5 yards

Worst: Washington, 25.4 yards

PUNT COVERAGE

Best: Atlanta, 4.3 yards

Worst: NY Jets, 15.7 yards

KICKOFF STARTING POINT

Best: Tennessee, 33.2-yard line

Worst: San Francisco, 25.8-yard line

OPPONENT STARTING POINT

Best: Detroit, 25.1-yard line

Worst: Buffalo, 36.1-yard line

FIELD GOALS

Best: Baltimore, 35

Worst: Cincinnati, 12

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

Best: Minnesota, 95.6 percent

Worst: Cincinnati, 57.1 percent

OPPONENT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

Best: NY Giants, 54.1 percent

Worst: Atlanta, 93.5 percent

EXTRA POINT PERCENTAGE

Best: 24 teams tied at 100 percent

Worst: Washington, 93.1 percent

GROSS PUNT

Best: San Diego, 46.1 yards

Worst: Carolina, 37.2 yards

NET PUNT

Best: Oakland, 37.9 yards

Worst: Buffalo, 31.4 yards

INSIDE THE 20 PUNTS

Best: Baltimore, 35

Worst: St. Louis, 13

OPPONENT GROSS PUNT

Best: Carolina, 39.8 yards

Worst: Baltimore, 44.5 yards

OPPONENT NET PUNT

Best: New England, 31.8 yards

Worst: Buffalo, 38.4 yards

BLOCKED KICKS

Best: Tampa Bay, 7

Worst: 10 tied with 0

KICK PROTECTION

Best: 5 tied with 0 blocks

Worst: Buffalo, 5 blocks

POINTS SCORED

Best: Atlanta, 24

Worst: 9 tied with 0

POINTS ALLOWED

Best: 10 tied with 0

Worst: New Orleans, 24

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