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Steelers Kick Coverage Team May Break Records ... In a Bad Way

Nov 18, 2009 – 10:32 PM
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JJ Cooper

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Jeff ReedIf you're a Steelers fan, you know that the Steelers kick coverage has been putrid, but considering how bad the Steelers coverage teams over the years have been, it's easy to not realize just how rank this year's special teams are. Thankfully, the Football Outsiders are able to give it some perspective.

In the 15 years of stats the FO guys now have data foor, the Steelers are coming up on a very dubious record. The 1995 Bills have the record for the worst kick coverage unit of all time--they are so bad that the difference between them and the second worst team is as much as the difference between the second worst and the 53rd worst unit.
But now the Steelers are not far behind the 1995 Bills for putridity. And it's not just the kick coverage. Jeff Reed's kickoffs have been the worst in the league -- significantly worse than anyone else, which is another argument (besides his run-ins with towel dispensers) why Pittsburgh should be OK with bringing in another kicker next year.

Football Outsiders ranks the kick coverage units by points. The Falcons are the best in kick coverage at 11.1 points. The Lions are second worst at -12.8. Pittsburgh is sitting at -26.2. Only three teams in those 15 years have finished worse than -20 with the Bills' -31 easily the worst since 1994.

It's unlikely that the Steelers will catch the '95 Bills -- it's hard to keep being as bad as they've been in recent weeks, but it is a good reminder that this unit isn't just a group that's having a couple of problems -- it's a group that is one of the worst kick coverage units you'll ever see.
Filed under: Sports
Tagged: Jeff Reed

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