What a way to bounce back.
After a rough Week 3 that saw the Chiefs’ special teams crew commit egregious error after error, coordinator Dave Toub’s unit rebounded the best way possible: by punching the opponent in the mouth early.
The Chiefs’ Week 4 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers started off with a Chris Lammons-forced fumble on kickoff coverage, with Elijah Lee getting the scoop. Two plays later Kansas City was up seven and never gave up the lead.
Take a sec to appreciate Chris Lammons & Elijah Lee (also Jack Cochrane & Bryan Cook) for setting the tone with the forced fumble on the opening kickoff.
May have been a different ballgame if #Chiefs didn't start by punching the Bucs in the mouth. Special teams bounced back big. pic.twitter.com/hvjjlC1VOt
— Wes Roesch (@WesleyRoesch) October 5, 2022
That’s how you do it. Last week we talked about how Toub was partially to blame for the team’s special teams woes, but also how he should be judged less on one bad week and more on how he can get his unit back on track. Like good coaches do, Toub not only got his squad back on track — he turned it back into a strength.
This week we’ll focus on just one subunit since the punt coverage and punt return teams didn’t see much action, and nine of the game’s 14 total kickoffs resulted in touchbacks or a kick out of bounds. The focus will be on Isiah Pacheco and the Chiefs’ kick return subunit, with some other notes to round things out.
As always, my snap counts and grades for individual players are available via Google Sheets.