Chiefs are Bringing Punting's Sexy Back--Yea!

If a special teams player almost breaks a record in the middle of the woods, would it make a sound? Apparently not. Dustin Colquitt tinkered with NFL history on Sunday. He almost became the first punter in the history of the game to average over 40 net punting yards. He came into the game with a 39.9 net punting average.

Who would have thought punting was important?

On the flipside of the punt, Colquitt's teammate was making a difference in a big way.Pollard has gotten plenty of attention for his game-changing punt block, as he should. How rare is it for a player in today's NFL to block a punt, let alone block two punts in the same month, let alone three blocks in a full season. Each of Pollard's game-changing plays allowed the Chiefs a red zone possession (if you discount Derrick Ross botching the grounding of a punt block in San Diego and discount Pollard's landing on the football for a touchdown against Jacksonville.) Chew on this: 13 punts have been blocked all season long (for some reason, it doesn't seem like Pollard's block in San Diego counted). Pollard is responsible for 3 of them. That means that Pollard is responsible for almost a quarter of the punt blocks in one season. When one person dominated a statistical category, that's a pretty strong testament to how major his accomplishment was.

But back to Colquitt. Colquitt had the season of his life and what does he have to show for it? Nothing. Just a little recognition from a special teams idiot like myself who probably pays closer attention to Colquitt's stats because of where he was drafted rather than how he's actually punted.

Dustin Colquitt had a pro bowl season. The only thing keeping him from the pro bowl is that Brian Moorman had a pro bowl season too. But look at every relevant number in the book and you'll find that Colquitt was close to Moorman. Colquitt finished the season at a very stout 39.3 Net Average, which was the best in the NFL. Unfortunately, in the punting world, the pro bowl is sometimes the only way a punter can be recognized.

It is also important to note that he has been magnificent at keeping the ball out of the end zone. I never realized how important it was until I saw a Chiefs' punter that actually knows how to manipulate spins to give his coverage unit an actual chance to pin the ball inside the 20-yard line. I encourage all of you to pay close attention to his punts that land near the end zone--they rarely ever kick back. They typically take a high hop either straight up or to the side. His ability to finesse the ball has only put the ball in the end zone 5 times all season. That is a magnificent accomplishment.

In the unsexy world of punting, Colquitt and Pollard managed to bring sexy back. Yea!