SAN JOSE, CA — When it comes to special teams in the NFL, nearly every team talks the talk – even if it’s merely lip service – regarding their often-crucial importance. But the NFC champion Seattle Seahawks walk the walk.
“We have such a good group of core guys – everybody’s bought in. I think that’s shown when we flipped some games,” Seattle kicker Jason Myers, who led the league with 171 points scored this season, told USA TODAY Sports.
“Everyone always says it’s one-third of the game, but not a lot of places where that’s true. Obviously, we do (believe it).”
Myers was quick to cite the investment from Seahawks general manager John Schneider, who signed him in free agency coming off a Pro Bowl season with the New York Jets in 2018 and added a four-year extension in 2023.
Schneider spent a fifth-round draft pick in 2018 − rare currency for a punter − on Michael Dickson, a second-team All-Pro who’s now on his third contract with the team. Then there was the midseason acquisition of wideout Rashid Shaheed, who’s had a massive special teams impact for the Seahawks – including three TD returns, highlighted by a 95-yarder to open (and effectively end?) the game in Seattle’s 41-6 divisional-round playoff rout of the San Francisco 49ers.
