Tag Archives: Punter of the Week

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TSR’s Punter of the Week:
Adam Podlesh – Chicago Bears

Who is he?
The only Jewish punter in the NFL, Podlesh survived the scary 2010 discovery of a tumor on the side of his face. Diagnosed with acinic cell carcinoma (a form of salivary gland cancer), Podlesh had surgery and recovered quickly. When Bears kicker Robbie Gould injured his left calf before a game at Minnesota last month, Podlesh was pressed into emergency kickoff duty and got the job done. Born in the Rochester, NY-area, Podlesh was a punting star at the University of Maryland. He was taken in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL draft by Jacksonville. His pro career has lived up to the lofty expectations created by his relatively early selection in the draft. Podlesh scored a two-point conversion against the Vikes at the Soldier on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. He could be seen with a large grin on his face after going in and taking a shot. Podlesh’s Twitter page is thoughtful. He re-tweets a lot but has original thoughts on a variety of subjects including the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas. Podlesh is a fan of the Aaron Sorkin-created television show Newsroom on HBO. Podlesh’s net per punt average (40.4) in 2011 was the best in Bears history.

The Podlesh stat line vs. the Lions 12-30-12:
5 punts. 219 yards total. 43.8 yards per. 39.8 net.

The punts in detail:
1. After a deep pass from Cutler to Jeffrey on the first play from scrimmage put the Bears in scoring position, Chicago’s right tackle Jonathan Scott jumped prematurely to trigger a false start call two plays later. Cutler made a scene about Scott’s flub and then allowed Ndamukong Suh to get in his face for a worthless exchange of trash talk. Suh is a complete nut case. I wouldn’t want him anywhere near my football team despite his immense talent. Anyway, Cutler was immediately rattled. On the repeat of third down, Cutler fumbled the ball while cocking his arm for a throw. Forte fell on it but the ball had squirted all the way back to the midfield stripe. On came Podlesh for his first punt. A low, off-center snap from the veteran long snapper Patrick Mannelly was picked cleanly by Podlesh and pooched nicely to the 9-yard line. 41-yard punt. No return on the fair catch by Mike Thomas. It’s worth noting that the Bears have used the same long snapper for the last 15 seasons. Mannelly has played 230 games, far and away the most of any player in the rich history of the Bears franchise. A few days before this game, Mannelly signed a one-year extension worth about a million bucks to come back next year.

2. Early second quarter in a must-win for the Bears, Podlesh came out for another softee. The Bears stalled out at the Lions 45, so Podlesh had to barely kiss it to sail it down inside the 20. One unusual element to the Podlesh pooch is an awkward-looking back step as he fields the snap before taking the traditional two-step forward approach just ahead of striking it. Thomas signaled fair catch almost immediately after Podlesh punted. He caught the ball cleanly at his own 13. It was a 32-yard punt with no return. Punts like this can put a little dent in the gross average. So it goes.

3. It was 30 degrees outside in Detroit but room temperature inside Ford Field for the final regular season game of 2012. Podlesh stood at his own 33 early in the third quarter and let loose a nice-looking punt on 4th and 10. It bounced on the Field Turf at the three-yard line. It was a bold attempt to pin the Lions deep, but unfortunately the ball had a forward roll on it and darted quickly into the end zone for a touchback. Bears gunner Eric Weems nearly got in position to down the ball near the goal line but he didn’t have a chance given the English the pigskin had when it landed. It was a 54-yard punt. With the touchback, the net is reduced to a mediocre 34. Speaking of 34, my pal Scooter gave his just-born son the middle name Payton in honor of the late great Sweetness. How ’bout that?

4. With the Lions down three, Podlesh had an important punt with four minutes to go in the third quarter. The Mannelly snap from the Chicago 46 was less than crisp but dead-on accurate. With wind not being a factor, Podlesh appears to prefer a launch to his left. Thomas caught it at his eight and tried to make something of it but got bottled up immediately by Weems. To celebrate the tackle, Weems faced the crowd in the nearest end zone and smiled. He stretched out his arms and then pounded his chest. Nice punt by Podlesh. Nice coverage by Weems. 46 yard punt with zero gain on the return.

5. It was serious crunch time for the Bears and Podlesh up two with 4:47 to go in the game. Like all his punts in this contest, Podlesh was called on for precision rather than power. Standing at his 32, Podlesh was unhurried as he struck a nice one under the roof. The Bears offensive line can’t protect Cutler but they do a nice job protecting the punter. This Podlesh punt floated high and long. Thomas waved and brought it in at his nine. Cover guy Joe Anderson got into Thomas’ space before the fair catch but there was no harm/no foul and Detroit was forced to start a crucial late-game drive from deep in their own territory. Big time punt from Podlesh. 46-yard punt, no return.

The Sound of a Punt:
Lions games can be heard on radio stations throughout the state of Michigan and in Toledo, Ohio.  Suh‘s popularity in Cornhusker country has led to the unusual arrangement of Lions broadcasts being aired on KLIN-AM in Lincoln, Nebraska. Dan Miller works the play-by-play mike for the Lions and does a solid job. I like him. I would have pulled a clip from the Bears broadcast but I couldn’t get access to it. So, the cut below is Miller’s call of the final Podlesh punt heard in Detroit on WNYT-FM.

The Punt-osis:
Podlesh’s numbers were off a touch from his record-setting 2011. He had a couple of shaky performances midway through the just-finished season prompting the Bears to bring in four punters for tryouts. None of them stuck and Podlesh rallied to save his 2012 campaign with several consecutive strong efforts. His standing going into camp next summer is solid regardless of what should be a top-to-bottom coaching turnover. Podlesh signed a five-year deal said to be worth $10 million before the 2011 season. When Gould went out last month, the 39-year-old journeyman kicker Olindo Mare came in. It’s hard to picture Mare returning as Podlesh’s battery-mate. Expect Gould back for at least one more year. And expect the Bears to again have a solid kicking game in 2013. If only they could protect the quarterback.

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TSR’s Punter of the Week:
Sam Koch – Baltimore Ravens

Who is he?
A three-way player in high school (Seward, Neb.), Koch walked on with Bill Callahan’s football team at the University of Nebraska and was the regular punter in Lincoln his junior and senior seasons. Not sure why it took so long for him to win the job but once he got it, he demonstrated dominance at the position. The Ravens used a sixth-round pick on Koch in 2006 and have kept him as their punter in every regular season game (111 total) since. His last name is pronounced “Cook” rather than “Kotch.” He turned 30 this past August. At Nebraska, Koch graduated with a degree in business administration. He’s listed at 6-1, 218 lbs. and looks every bit that big or bigger with zero flab. Koch flashed great athleticism on a fake field goal earlier this season against the Raiders. He also made an incredible open field tackle on Washington punt returner Richard Crawford a few weeks ago. Koch notched a two-point conversion last season on a fake PAT and is always a threat to engage in trickery. There’s not a punter in the league who is handed the opportunities to do the kinds of creative things Koch gets to do.

The Koch stat line vs. the G-Men 12-23-12:
Two punts. 117 yards total. 58.5 yards per. 52.5 net.

The punts in detail:
1. The Ravens scored touchdowns on their first two possessions so Koch didn’t go out to punt until late in the first quarter. Wearing a fanny pack stuffed with who-knows-what, Koch wore a long-sleeve shirt under his jersey. The bulge on his fanny pack protruded off his lower back and was emblazoned with the Ravens logo. Baltimore’s home field is covered with an artificial playing surface called “Sportexe Momentum.” There’s a distracting sheen to it when you watch Ravens games on television. The left side of the Giants punt rush got penetration and nearly disrupted Koch’s kick. Koch’s powerful leg snap – combined with his right foot’s perfect alignment with the pigskin’s sweet spot produced a boom-shock-a-lock-a of a boomer. It was a cannon shot on a fall-like late afternoon in Charm City. Big Blue return man Domenik Hixon caught it at his own 11 and ran lateral to his right hoping to turn it upfield around two Ravens gunners who sped full-on straight north-south. What Hixon didn’t anticipate was the tremendous cut and shift ability of Ravens cover guys Brendon Ayanbedejo and James Ihedigbo. The pair combined to haul Hixon down at the thirteen. It was a 60-yard punt and a two-yard return. Ihedigbo celebrated the tackle with a theatrical demonstration that seemed to simulate the digging of a grave. The symbolism of this display would prove true blue as the game went on because the postseason chances of the football Giants were all but buried by a lackluster effort on both sides of the ball.

2. With his team up 24-7, Koch came on to punt early in the third quarter after one of just a couple stalls by the Ravens offense. The look and feel of this punt mirrored the first one. Koch was facing the opposite direction but it was another clean strike and the ball sailed beautifully. When Hixon fielded it at his sixteen, he had lots of running room. But he went the wrong way and got bottled up by a swarm of defenders. It was a 57-yard punt and a ten-yard return. The stripes tacked on ten more yards for the Giants after flagging Ihedigbo for a hold at the line of scrimmage. FOX ran a replay that showed Ihedigbo with an excessive clench on Adrian Tracy making the flag toss a good one.

The Sound of a Punt:
Gerry Sandusky is the radio voice of the Ravens, He has zero connection to the convicted child molester bearing the same last name. Gerry Sandusky is sports director and anchor on the NBC affiliate in Baltimore. He also does radio play-by-play on Towson (his alma mater) hoops games. Sandusky’s Dad John is a former NFL player and longtime assistant coach. Gerry Sandusky has a smooth broadcaster voice and does a nice job calling the game. He’s joined in the booth by former Baltimore Colt linebacker Stan White. On the cut below, Sandusky and White call Koch’s first boomer. As is often the case on radio descriptions of punts, Sandusky lets White go long with his analysis of the third down play leaving little time for the play-by-play guy to set up the punt. Still, Sandusky gets a rise out of the boot, which is cool. The game was carried in Baltimore on WBAL-AM and a sister FM station WIYY.

The Punt-osis:
There were just two punts from Koch in this one but both backed the Giants up at moments the game was still a game. Koch reinforced field position advantages on both chances. He’s having the best season of his life. His gross is over 48 per and he looked fantastic against Big Blue. Koch signed a juicy five-year deal before the 2011 season said to be worth $12.5 mil with three million guaranteed. Koch has gotten rich punting a football and appears to be very much in the prime of his career. The thing I admire about him (as a Sauerbrun fan) is the swashbuckle you get on his coverage effort and the risk he poses as trickmeister. If you plan on watching the Ravens in the postseason, be ready for a Koch fake job of some sort.

Next week’s Punter of the Week:
Adam Podlesh – Chicago Bears