The Green Bay Packers blew a spot in the Super Bowl in epic fashion and someone had to pay the price. That person was special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum.
Slocum was fired by Packers head coach Mike McCarthy Friday following a disastrous season across the board. Two of Slocum’s worst moments came in the NFC Championship Game when the Packers allowed the Seahawks to run a fake field goal for a touchdown, and when they failed to recover an onside kick. Stopping either play in all likelihood would have resulted in a victory and Super Bowl berth.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel breaks down some of the special teams low-lights:
Green Bay had seven blocked kicks, including five over the final seven regular-season games. The kickoff return game never took off — DuJuan Harris’ 20.7 yards per return ranked 20th.
Punter Tim Masthay regressed down the stretch. His net of 37 yards per punt ranked 30th in the NFL, his 14 punts inside the 20 ranked last.
The seven blocked field goals were a ridiculous amount and accounted for over 11 percent of the blocks in the league according to STATS Inc. The Packers also allowed a punt return for a touchdown in their surprising loss at Buffalo.
Slocum had coached under McCarthy since 2006. When you consider how bad the Packers were on special teams across the board, Slocum should have been fired a long time ago.
