Danny Crossman – September 21, 2023
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Thursday, September 21, 2023
Special Teams Coordinator Danny Crossman
(I guess we’ll start with the blocked field goal. Did they time that up by P Jake Bailey or the cadence? Or how did they do that?) – “They (New England) did a great job. I mean that’s good stuff. Whether it’s – obviously, we were on the wrong side of that one. But when you see stuff like that, that’s a great play. It’s perfectly timed, perfectly executed, a big play by them. But then again, they did it again later. It was a great play by them. Give them all the credit in the world. Give the coaches, give the player (credit). It’s super stuff and exciting even though we were on the wrong side of it, but that’s good stuff.”
(Why didn’t it work the second time?) – “Again, it’s a complete timing play. And if it’s not 100 percent right, it’s not going to work. You could be blocked, you could be offsides. There’s such a large spectrum. And when it works, it’s a fabulous thing.”
(The solution seems to be changing something, anything, so that it’s not exactly the same, and it makes it less predictable. But the problem might be that don’t kickers and snappers and holders like everything exactly the same every time?) – “No. We’re constantly varying things. So that’s just part of the game.”
(So you don’t think that that had any impact on the miss?) – “No.”
(Do you see teams trying to copy that?) – “I think that you’ll see teams look at it. But again, it’s the risk/reward. I think if you’re willing to go for it, I think you may see it on more long down situations so that if you are offsides, you’re not giving away a first down. You’re just giving away five yards of field position. Then you’re looking at what’s the history of the kicker and based on the yards. So there’s a lot of things that go into it. So again, they did a great job. (It was a) good play. Do I think you’ll see (it again)? I think you’ll see some version of that. But again, that’s just going to be part of the game.”
(Is their history with P Jake Bailey a factor in this?) – “Obviously, I think that has something to do with it. They know a lot of things about him. That particular play at that particular time was great, but we play guys that we’ve played against – specialists, players. Guys are the same guys. There’s subtle differences and you work on things and some things change. But it’s like anything else, guys are the same guys, regardless of the jerseys they are wearing. So some of those things you work to change. Some of them, you enhance. Again, that’s just part of it.”
(I know every field goal attempt is unique in its own. I know we’ve asked you about this, but in over the past few years, Jason is 4-of-13 on 50-yard plus field goals. I know you have all the confidence in the world with him, but at what point does it maybe become an issue? Or is there anything addressed during the week?) – “I’m not even close to that. So, I don’t know what that spot is. I try not to think about that because I don’t want to envision that. That’s not even part of what I’m thinking and where I’m at.”
(Is there anything that sticks out to you with the kicks?) – “Again, we’ve gone through this and we’ve gone over this, and I understand the question. If it was a week in and week out in practice – if there were just constant issues, then yeah, we would already come to your first question. But it’s not. So again, we have great confidence in Jason. That’s a situation at the end of the game, a 55-yarder, the percentages of that, versus the percentage of a fourth-and-3 conversion, you look at the numbers and you say do we go for the win with one of these? Or do you punt and pin and try to play defense? So there’s a lot of things that go into it. We played that percentage and we felt good about it. It didn’t work out. Fortunately the defense made the stand. All we care about is winning the game.”
(You mentioned the percentages of that. I guess there’s maybe some analytics involved. What were the percentages? Because I was actually shocked that you guys didn’t punt. Were the numbers actually in favor of kicking over punting in that situation?) – “We’re in this to win the game. And we were trying to win the game. Whether it’s offensively – Mike (McDaniel) said it. If we convert on fourth down or we kick the field goal, the percentages of winning the game are very, very, very good. So we were playing to win.”
(Are there ever times where Head Coach Mike McDaniel says, can he make it? I don’t mean just on Jason but I mean, throughout your career. Because in the movies, the coach always says, ‘Can he make it?’ And the guy never says no. So do you ever say, ‘You know what? Taking into consideration the wind, the field position, the spot on the field, we might want to pass on this one.’) – “Absolutely.”
(What percentage of time, like one percent over your career?) – “Maybe once or twice a year does that come up. It’s Jason (Sanders), it’s me, it’s the situation. There’s a lot of things that go into it. But again, if we can find a way to win the game and that’s what it comes down to is how the game is going offensively, defensively and the kicking game, then you get to the weather, the field surface. So there’s a lot of things. But yeah, there’s a couple times a year that we’ll be like, ‘there is a better option,’ even if the numbers slightly favor A and you may go with B or C.”
(I’m sorry to belabor the K Jason Sanders thing but in your mind as a long-time, established special teams coach, what is the reasonable expectation for the percentage that an NFL kicker should be able to make from 50-plus yards over the course of the season? Is it 50 percent, 60 percent?) – “Well, you talk about those numbers and each yard it changes drastically. You’re talking about 78 to 60 percent when you when you move the ball four yards. So if you go 51 (yards) to 55 (yards), you’re talking about a pretty big swing. So there are a lot of things that go into it. But again, any time we send Jason out on the field, we feel very strongly about him making the kick.”
(Is that because in practice he continues the vast majority of long ones?) – “Correct. Not just long ones. All of them.”
(I’m not looking for a strategy here, just kind of a theory. You guys don’t have any kickoff returns. RB De’Von Achane is eligible to be back there. What does he do well? Why would he be back there if he is? Speed? Hands?) – “I mean, number one, he’s got a history of it, so he’s done it. You’re not teaching him something new. And then you couple that with he’s a very talented individual. He’s got explosion, he’s got power, he runs hard for not a big stature player. And then he’s got home run speed. So he’s got history and then he’s got great talent, which is why he’s here and why we’re so excited to have him both in the kicking game and offensively.”
(It’s back-to-back weeks now you’ve had big punt returns lead to splash plays on the following play. Last week it looked like you had a return on to get WR Braxton Berrios 18 yards. I think at the Chargers game, more pressure forced a high punt. How do you decide whether or not you want to go return or pressure in those backed up punt situations?) – “Again, a lot that is tied into who we’re playing, what the history is of the punter, the coach, the elements. So there’s a lot of things that go into that. Again, if we can get great field position one way or the other and the offense is able to respond – we get two good field position plays in back-to-back weeks and we’re able to convert it immediately into points – that’s great complementary football. The defense gets the stop to pin them back, we’re able to convert, get good field position and the offense is able to score. When you’re able to do that, your chances of winning are pretty good.”
