Rick Gosselin’s 2022 NFL Special Teams Rankings

The Houston Texans didn't win many games but excelled on special teams

The Houston Texans fired their head coach after just one season.

But the Texans might want to hold on to one of his assistants.

The Texans fired Lovie Smith after a 3-13-1 finish. An offense without DeShaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins finished 31st in the NFL and a defense without J.J. Watt finished 30th. But special-teams coordinator Frank Ross gave the Texans the best kicking game in the NFL according to the 42th edition of my annual special-teams rankings.

The league’s 32 teams are ranked in 22 kicking-game categories and assigned points according to their standing – one for best, 32 for worst. The Texans compiled 255 points to finish 14 1/2 better than the runnerup Seattle Seahawks at 269.5. The top 12 finishers included two division champions – Buffalo and Jacksonville – and four wild-card playoff teams: Seattle, Baltimore, the Chargers and Dallas.

The quirk in the rankings is that the top two seeds in the playoffs – Kansas City in the AFC and Philadelphia in the NFC – finished in the bottom two of these rankings. The Eagles finished 31st with 459 points and the Chiefs dead last with 461 points.

The Texans finished first in three categories – kickoff coverage, opponent starting point and takeaways. They ranked in the Top 5 in seven categories and the Top 10 in nine categories.

The Texans recovered four fumbled kicks by Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Dare Ogunbowale, Blake Cashman and M.J. Stewart and got a pair of long-distance field goals (55 and 56 yards) from Ka’imi Fairbairn. Cameron Johnston launched a league runnerup 37 inside-the-20 punts and the Texans were also the only team to hold the opposition under 20 yards per kickoff return.

“There was a subculture, to be honest with you, in the kicking-game room and my guys really bought in,” Ross said. “Our season was tough. But early on, maybe about Week 4, those guys noticed that, `Man, we’re pretty darn good in the kicking game.’ And the pride level never wavered, never waned. Our players took ownership. We had a good veteran group.”

Ross also had a head coach who understood the value of special teams. Smith’s 2006 Chicago Bears led the NFL in special teams on their way to the Super Bowl. He gave Ross the chance to succeed in the kicking game with a commitment to both practice time and personnel.

“Lovie was great,” Ross said. “He had an appreciation for my vision. There was a clearly defined role for how I wanted to use players and he was on board with that.”

Ross debuted as an NFL special-teams coach in 2021 with the Texans and finished 14th in these rankings. But the team that made the biggest jump was the Los Angeles Chargers, who finished 31st in special teams in 2021 before vaulting 24 spots to No. 7 this season under first-year coordinator Ryan Ficken.

It also marked the third consecutive season the Seattle Seahawks have finished in the Top 5 in special teams under Larry Izzo and the second consecutive Top 5 finish for the Ravens under Chris Horton.

RankTeamPoints
1Houston Texans255
2Seattle Seahawks269.5
3Baltimore Ravens272
4Carolina Panthers277.5
5Buffalo Bills286
6Detroit Lions292.5
7LA Chargers296.5
8Indianapolis Colts300.5
9NY Jets306
10Atlanta Falcons309
11Jacksonville Jaguars322.5
12Dallas Cowboys328.5
13Las Vegas Raiders331
14Tennessee Titans341
15Minnesota Vikings357
16New England Patriots362
17SF 49ers375.5
18Cleveland Browns378.5
19Washington Commanders383.5
20New Orleans Saints385
21Pittsburgh Steelers407.5
22Green Bay Packers408
23Arizona Cardinals408.5
24Chicago Bears414.5
25Denver Broncos433.5
26Cincinnati Bengals434
27Miami Dolphins437.5
28NY Giants438.5
29LA Rams440
30Tampa Bay Buccaneers445
31Philadelphia Eagles459
32Kansas City Chiefs461

Here’s a breakdown of the 22 categories:

KICKOFF RETURNS

Best: Indianapolis, 27.8 yards

Worst: Denver, 17.5 yards

League average: 22.85 yards

 

PUNT RETURNS

Best: Atlanta, 16.2 yards

Worst: Las Vegas, 5.78 yards

League average: 8.88 yards

 

KICKOFF COVERAGE

Best: Houston, 19.0 yards

Worst: Miami, 27.8 yards

League average: 22.85 yards

 

PUNT COVERAGE

Best: Los Angeles Chargers, 3.1 yards

Worst: Cleveland, 12.3 yards

League average:  8.88 yards

 

STARTING POINT

Best: Buffalo, 28.2-yard line

Worst: Denver, 23.9-yard line

League average: 25.3-yard line

 

OPPONENT STARTING POINT

Best: Houston, 22.1-yard line

Worst: New England, 27.9-yard line

League average: 25.3-yard line

 

PUNTING

Best: Tennessee, 53.1 yards

Worst: New England, 41.7 yards

League average: 46.74 yards

 

NET PUNTING

Best: Kansas City, 45.6 yards

Worst: New England, 35.9 yards

League average: 41.47 yards

 

INSIDE-THE-20 PUNTS

Best: Carolina, 39

Worst: Detroit, 14

League average: 25.4

 

OPPONENT PUNTING

Best: Miami, 43.7 yards

Worst: Denver, 51.5 yards

League average: 46.74 yards

 

OPPONENT NET PUNTING

Best: New England, 38.2 yards

Worst: Denver, 45.0 yards

League average: 41.47 yards

 

FIELD GOALS

Best: Baltimore, 37

Worst: Tennessee, 20

League average: 28.2

 

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

Best: Carolina, 94.2

Worst: New Orleans, 74.1

League average: 85.02 percent

 

OPPONENT FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE

Best: Las Vegas, 70.0

Worst: Jacksonville, 96.29

League average: 85.02 percent

 

EXTRA POINT PERCENTAGE

Best: 5 teams tied at 100 percent

Worst: Chicago, 84.3

League average: 94.6 percentage

 

POINTS SCORED

Best: Buffalo, 14 points

Worst: 19 teams tied with 0 points

League average: 3.0 points

 

POINTS ALLOWED

Best: 20 teams tied with 0 points

Worst: New England, 18 points

League average: 3.0 points

 

BLOCKED KICKS

Best: Carolina, 5

Worst: 5 teams tied with 0

League average: 1.5 blocks

 

BLOCKED KICKS ALLOWED

Best: 7 teams tied with 0

Worst: Green Bay, 4

League average: 1.5 blocks

 

TAKEAWAYS

Best: Houston, 4

Worst: 10 teams with tied 0

League average: 1.2 takeaways

 

GIVEAWAYS

Best: 11 teams tied with 0

Worst: Kansas City, 5

League average: 1.2 giveaways

 

PENALTIES

Best: Buffalo, 7 for 54 yards

Worst: Carolina, 23 for197 yards

League average: 13.5 penalties for 109.1 yards

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