Special teams didn’t stand out against the Patriots, as if anything else did on Sunday. There isn’t a whole lot to report, and you’ll probably get a “kick” out of the first clip entirely…

In a game with very little kick or punt returns, I felt the best thing that happened from the very start of the AFC Championship, is that the Steelers booted a ball in a spot where New England kick returner Dion Lewis couldn’t do anything with the ball.

Smart.

Dion Lewis had a 98-yard return for a touchdown one week earlier against the Houston Texans; so like avoiding Tyreek Hill one week earlier as well, the Steelers did the smart thing and made sure the return game had minimal impact on the overall game.

Lewis would only have a single return in this game for 18 yards.

That part was well done by Chris Boswell. Unfortunately, the consistent kicker missed his first point-after try of the season in this game.

Not so good.

Also not as good was Justin Gilbert filling in for Fitzgerald Toussaint. Many critics wondered why Gilbert wasn’t returning kicks for Pittsburgh, when he had previously done so with his prior team, the Cleveland Browns.

It’s a small sample size, but I believe this clip answers the question.

As you watch this clip, keep your eyes focused down the numbers on the right side. This is where the special teams unit starts to form their wall, but Gilbert doesn’t follow his blocks, and kicks to the outside.

He reaches the 22-yard line solely based on his talent and ability: that will only get you so far. Regardless, Gilbert appears to be a far better returner than Toussaint was.

Sammie Coates would return two kicks as well, with one going for 31 yards. If your memory serves you correctly, he also got rocked far short of the 25 on his other attempt.

The Patriots didn’t punt much the entire night, and wisely avoided Antonio Brown, who only had one return for 10 yards with their 2 punts on the evening.

As for Steelers punter Jordan Berry, he was put in some tough positions, punting 4 times throughout the game. Those punts came from the:

• Pittsburgh 31 (36 yards)
• New England 44 (44 yards)
• Pittsburgh 37 (47 yards)
• New England 39 (27 yards)

It’s that second kick I really want to focus on, because I believe it set the tone for the others.

Now, the Steelers were able to stop the Patriots when they had better field position, and oftentimes, worse field position should statistically mean your opponent has further to drive; they are less likely to score.

This particular punt sailed a little too far and went for a touchback.

Had Berry gotten a little more hang, it may have went for a fair catch at New England’s 8, or speculating further, downed closer to the endzone.

It was a missed opportunity to pin the Patriots deep in their own territory, and likely scenario where Berry pooched the 27-yarder later on in the game (which gave the Patriots the ball on their own 17) in order to not duplicate the same mistake, but instead, didn’t capitalize on that play either.

It’s an overall mundane showing for the Steelers, and not much to discuss on this side of the ball, but it does paint a portrait of how this unit didn’t position the Patriots deep, and didn’t move the ball upfield to help their own offense (where applicable).

That’s not to say our specialists aren’t fantastic: I wouldn’t trade Chris Boswell, Jordan Berry or Antonio Brown for the world. The NFL messed with the kickoff rules again for the 2016 season, so even that phase of the game “is what it is”.

Here’s looking forward to seeing more of the good, than the bad, on special teams next season.