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.
| Rank | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Houston Texans | 255 |
| 2 | Seattle Seahawks | 269.5 |
| 3 | Baltimore Ravens | 272 |
| 4 | Carolina Panthers | 277.5 |
| 5 | Buffalo Bills | 286 |
| 6 | Detroit Lions | 292.5 |
| 7 | LA Chargers | 296.5 |
| 8 | Indianapolis Colts | 300.5 |
| 9 | NY Jets | 306 |
| 10 | Atlanta Falcons | 309 |
| 11 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 322.5 |
| 12 | Dallas Cowboys | 328.5 |
| 13 | Las Vegas Raiders | 331 |
| 14 | Tennessee Titans | 341 |
| 15 | Minnesota Vikings | 357 |
| 16 | New England Patriots | 362 |
| 17 | SF 49ers | 375.5 |
| 18 | Cleveland Browns | 378.5 |
| 19 | Washington Commanders | 383.5 |
| 20 | New Orleans Saints | 385 |
| 21 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 407.5 |
| 22 | Green Bay Packers | 408 |
| 23 | Arizona Cardinals | 408.5 |
| 24 | Chicago Bears | 414.5 |
| 25 | Denver Broncos | 433.5 |
| 26 | Cincinnati Bengals | 434 |
| 27 | Miami Dolphins | 437.5 |
| 28 | NY Giants | 438.5 |
| 29 | LA Rams | 440 |
| 30 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 445 |
| 31 | Philadelphia Eagles | 459 |
| 32 | Kansas City Chiefs | 461 |
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
