Lost in the storylines of the Bucs’ new-look defense and the needed adjustments to the offense because of shuffling on the offensive line, one phase of the game needed to improve this year. Tampa Bay’s special teams unit has been less than stellar over the last few years. By almost every objective measurement, the Bucs ranked near the bottom of the NFL.

No seriously, almost every … single … one.

If you don’t believe me head on over to ProFootballReference.com and take a look for yourself. But if you don’t have that kind of time, I’ll sum them up for you here.

Punt return average? The Bucs averaged 7.1 yards per return, which was good for 29th in the league.

Kick return average was similarly disappointing, ranking 26th in the league at 19.7 yards per return.

Bucs kicker Ryan Succop, who helped propel the team to a 2020 Super Bowl title led a kicking unit that ranked 25th in the league in accuracy at 80.6%. The Bucs were one of only two teams in the league to not have a single converted field goal attempt of 50 or more yards.

The Bucs’ punting game was also abysmal with a league-low 42.0 yards per punt.

Just about the only area the Bucs special teams was special in was kickoffs where they ranked 5th with a 74.0% touchback percentage.

To quote the iconic AMC television series Mad Men if you were to describe the Bucs 2021 version of their special teams was “Not great, Bob!” And this wasn’t a new phenomenon. Tampa Bay’s special teams struggled prior to 2021 as well.

Changes Moving Into 2022

It would seem the Bucs understood these deficiencies and made some personnel moves to try and shore up the third phase of the game. Gone is Pinion in favor of fourth-round rookie Jake Camarda. Gone is special teams ace Grant Stuard in favor of rookie undrafted free agent Olakunle Fatukasi. Rookie running back Rachaad White won the kick returner job over second-year receiver Jaelon Darden. However, Darden remains entrenched as the starting punt returner. Rookie tight end Cade Otton figures prominently in many of these units as well and had two tackles in his NFL debut last Sunday.

Succop remains, as he straight-up beat out Jose Borregales for the kicker job in a legitimate camp battle by just plain ol’ being better. But would any of these moves actually move the needle and improve the woeful performance of this unit from last year (and the year before, and the year before)? Well, after one game the early returns say … maybe.

Special Teams Looked Good In Dallas

Outside of one missed field goal (on a day where it looked like kickers were being paid to miss field goals) the unit looked very sound. Succop ended up four for five on his field goal tries, hitting from 44, 38, 29, and 47, while missing from 36. He also converted his lone extra point attempt.

Camarda showed he can bring more than just placement to his punts as he averaged 50.7 yards per punt on the night, including a 63-yard bomb on his third attempt at his first career punt. While he was surely disappointed at the fact that the ball traveled into the endzone instead of placing it inside the 20, it was nevertheless a solid punt overall.

Bucs ILB KJ Britt – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

His second punt of the day was a beautiful, 46-yarder that forced Dallas return sensation KaVontae Turpin to call for a fair catch. And his final punt, from his own 41, sailed 43 yards to the Dallas 16 with his coverage unit all over it. Turpin attempted a return and shook Anthony Nelson’s tackle attempt only to be brought down by K.J. Britt, who had two tackles. Overall, all three of his punts forced Dallas to start from their own 20-yard line or worse.

Darden averaged 9.3 yards per punt return and generally looked good moving in the right vertical direction and staying upright unless knocked over by an actual opponent.

And the kick coverage units showed to be very solid as well. Pinion was known for banging the ball through the back of the end zone for a touchback, setting the opponent up on their own 25.

Camarda on Sunday looked to take a different approach. On the opening kickoff of the game, he placed the ball right at the goal line, inviting Turpin to bring the ball out. That allowed the kick coverage unit, led byBritt to bring Turpin down at the Dallas 14.

On his second attempt Camarda’s kickoff went for a touchback. On the third, Camarda placed the ball just a yard or so behind his initial kickoff and again enticing Turpin to attempt a return. On this one Turpin was able to get further than the first, up to the Dallas 20 before being brought down by a solid form tackle from Otton. Once the offensive holding penalty was tacked on, Dallas was once again backed up in its own territory at the 10-yard line.

The next time the Bucs kicked off Camarda placed his boot at the Dallas 3-yard line. Turpin was unable to advance the ball to the touchback standard, falling a yard short after another Otton tackle.

Camarda’s last kickoff of the first half was five yards deep in the end zone. Turpin again made a valiant effort to return it, only to be foiled once again by the Bucs now-stellar coverage unit. He could only advance to the Dallas 15 before Keanu Neal and Otton (again!) brought him down. By the time Camarda kicked off for the last time in the second half Turpin had learned his lesson and wisely took the touchback yardage.

In stark contrast to the opening of this article where I asserted that by any objective metric the Bucs special teams were (cliche alert) anything but special, coordinator Keith Armstrong had his unit looking downright unique. If the special teams can keep this up for another 16 games, it will give both the Bucs offense and defense advantages at the margins.

And the margins are often where football games are won and lost.