The Cowboys' special teams units have been a silver lining for me, but what happened in this past game? There was a major lack of discipline. 鈥 H. Melvin/Ocean City, NJ
Nick: That was one the most surprising aspects of the game Sunday night. You expected the 49ers to run it well, and expected the Cowboys to have issues with their own running game. But problems with the special teams - and all night long? That was very surprising especially after the bye week. It's almost like they forgot some of the news rules with the kickoff and also one of the oldest rules with the illegal forward pass. That play - both Turpin and Goodwin said they thought the pitch was backward but the design of the play and the angle Goodwin and Turpin were both running made it nearly impossible the throw a backwards pitch when they're running in opposite directions. The biggest gaffe was probably Aubrey's short kickoff out of the landing zone. That's such a killer penalty and it kickstarted the 49ers' impressive third quarter.
Kurt: Yes, despite all the struggles we've seen from the offense and defense, we've had the special teams units to at least feel good about. Pro Football Focus has the Cowboys rated among the top five clubs in the NFL for special teams play. Kicker Brandon Aubrey is also among league leaders in points with his only two field-goal misses being a blocked kick and a try from 51 yards while punter Bryan Anger is currently 10th in yards per punt with a 50.1 mark. And KaVontae Turpin is first in yards per kick return (34.7) and has a punt return touchdown. As a whole, the special teams have no doubt been good. But the players themselves know their performance wasn't up to par in the 49ers game with C.J. Goodwin, the Cowboys' special teams ace, saying immediately afterward, "It's extremely frustrating when we don't do our job correctly." Unfortunately, doing jobs correctly has been an ongoing criticism of both the offense and defense, and you have to hope that the apparent lack of attention to details in those areas doesn't seep into this third facet of the game. But given that coordinator John Fassel is a respected innovator and motivator, Goodwin is a trusted veteran leader and there are key contributors like Juanyeh Thomas, Hunter Luepke, Markquese Bell and Israel Mukuamu, I don't think special teams will become an issue. Sunday's game was just a temporary setback. As Goodwin said, "We'll fix it, on to the next one."
