Tag: afc special teams player of month

Chiefs P Tommy Townsend earns AFC Special Teams Player of the Month honors

#Chiefs P Tommy Townsend has earned his second career AFC Special Teams Player of the Month Award from the NFL.

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Kansas City Chiefs third-year punter Tommy Townsend is off to a great start to the 2022 NFL season. His stellar performance has him being recognized by the league as the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for September. This is his second-career monthly award after winning AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for the first time last November.

With 11 punts in three games played so far this season, Townsend has averaged 55.5 yards and a league-high 49.6 net punting average. Five of his 11 punts have landed inside the 20-yard line. His long punt on the season was a booming 74-yard kick.

Townsend has become the only Chiefs punter to win AFC monthly honors multiple times. He joins kicker Harrison Butker (3) and return specialist Tamarick Vanover (2) as the only players for Kansas City with multiple Special Teams Players of the Month awards.

Not much went right for the Chiefs’ special teams unit in Week 3. Townsend even failed on a fake punt pass play call. Outside of that error, Townsend has been flawless so far this season.

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Chiefs ST coach Dave Toub commends Tommy Townsend for AFC Player of the Month award

#Chiefs ST coach Dave Toub commended Tommy Townsend and the entire punt coverage unit for Townsend’s AFC Special Teams Player of the Month win. | from @TheJohnDillon

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It seems that every phase of the Kansas City Chiefs team hit its stride at the same time in recent weeks. Even punter Tommy Townsend ended up receiving a major accolade, winning the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month Award for November after all his efforts in pinning opponents deep when the Chiefs offense stalled.

Dave Toub, one of the most respected members of the NFL’s special teams community, gave high praise to the second-year punter in his Thursday press conference. Toub was clearly over the moon about the honor bestowed on Townsend, saying that what he accomplished last month was among the most impressive feats he has ever witnessed.

“Really great, really, really, great news this morning hearing that,” He said. “Well deserved, I mean when you go back and look at the month that he had, it’s by far the best performance by a punter that I’ve ever had as a coach. It was really, really good numbers, and it was good to see him do it week after week. He had a really good week and then he followed it up with three more weeks so very proud of him and the unit.”

As impressive as Townsend’s leg has been, the veteran coordinator knows that winning the field position battle is a group effort, and commended the gunners in punt coverage for maximizing every opportunity they were given.

“The gunners have played excellent for him,” Toub explained, “(Chris) Lammons and (Marcus) Kemp are doing a great job covering kicks. Sometimes they’re not perfect kicks, but they go down there and make a great play for him and keep his net up so it’s a team effort. Tommy would be the first one to tell you that.”

Townsend definitely benefitted from the play of all other members of the special teams unit. Six of his 10 total punts in November landed inside and were downed within the 20-yard line. He averaged a whopping 54.9 yards per punt with a 50.7 net yards per punt, with a booming long of 68 yards en route to the monthly award. He also had the fake punt against the Raiders, resulting in a 16-yard reception by Marcus Kemp.

While fans certainly hope his role is limited moving forward, Townsend’s ability to help Kansas City in a multitude of ways will only serve to help them win games moving forward. His Player of the Month recognition is a sign that the NFL has officially taken notice of his unique skillset from one of the most underrated positions in the game of football.

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Steelers WR Diontae Johnson named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week

Diontae Johnson had a huge game last week.

Last week was the breakout performance for Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Diontae Johnson. The guy who was drafted to replace Antonio Brown did a pretty good impression of him with his game against the Arizona Cardinals. Johnson’s big game earned him the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 14.

Johnson returned a punt 85 yards for a touchdown against the Cardinals. It was the first time the Steelers got a punt return for a score since Brown did it back in 2015. Johnson also pitched in 60 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown.

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