“It’s eight games in,” special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons cautioned. “We’re still a long ways away. It’s how you finish that really matters, but we are off to a good start.”
The Bengals closed the first half of the season with their best special teams effort yet in Sunday’s 33-23 win against Jacksonville. While the offense and defense had sloppy showings, Simmons’ squads were crisp and played a huge role in setting up 12 of the team’s points.
Rex Burkhead got his hand on a Bryan Anger punt in the second quarter to create a short field that the Bengals converted into a Mike Nugent 31-yard field goal. And the next time Anger lined up to punt, Taylor Mays blocked it through the end zone for a safety.
Then in the fourth quarter, Jones ripped off a 31-yard return to set up Andy Dalton’s 18-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Green that gave Cincinnati a 26-10 lead.
If Jones can finish the season as the league’s leading punt and kick returner, he will be the first man to do it since Detroit’s Mel Gray in 1991.
Jones was not eligible to be included in the kick return leaders prior to this week because he didn’t have the minimum requirement of 1.25 returns per team game played. But with four attempts Sunday, he debuted on the list in the top spot ahead of Baltimore’s Jacoby Jones.
“He’s earned more shots,” Simmons said. “I probably should have put him in there a little earlier on kickoff returns. I needed to feel confident how he was going to react to what he was going to do when he was in there.”
While Jones has fueled the Bengals rise in the rankings, with them sitting third in punt return average (13.1) and fifth in kick return average (26.6) and first in opponent gross punting average (41.3) and opponent net punting average (32.9).
But the Bengals have excelled in punting and punt coverage as well. Kevin Huber ranks ninth in gross punting average (47.0) and second in net punting average (44.1).
“Net is where it’s at,” Huber said. “Gross doesn’t mean anything. You could have a 60-yard gross, but if the returner goes for a touchdown, it doesn’t matter. I’ve got faith in the gunners that they are going to get down there and make plays, so I can be a little bit more aggressive.”
Dre Kirkpatrick, a cornerback the Bengals drafted in the first round in 2012, played gunner in college at Alabama and has excelled in that role with the Bengals while sitting behind Jones, Terence Newman and Leon Hall on the defensive depth chart.
“It’s a passion,” he said. “You’re just fighting for your brothers. They’re out there going hard, so it’s my job to go out there and go hard because I feel like I’m one of the best gunners in the league.”
Simmons agreed with that assessment and said Darqueze Dennard, this year’s first-round pick, isn’t far behind. Simmons also praised rookie wide receiver James Wright, who has filled in with Dennard hurt the last two games.
"You're only as good as your 53rd player," Simmons said. "In years past I might have been holding my breath covering punts with backup gunners. But I feel good about putting all of gunners in there.
“When you’ve got good gunners, it makes you very, very difficult to stop,” he added.
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