February 11, 2008
Bears earn special honor for second straight season
By Larry Mayer
LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears finished No. 1 in the NFL on special teams in 2007 for the second straight season in rankings compiled annually by Dallas Morning News columnist Rick Gosselin.
Gosselin ranks the league’s 32 teams in 22 categories and assigns points according to their standing—one for the best, 32 for the worst. Gosselin revealed Sunday that the Bears won with a score of 236.5, 5.5 points better than second-place San Diego.
“It’s very special,” said special teams coordinator Dave Toub. “It says a lot about our guys and how important it is to them that we are the best. That’s always our goal. Our goal is obviously to win the Super Bowl. But our No. 2 goal is to be the best special teams unit in the league, and to do that two years in a row, it’s a great honor. I’m very proud of the players.”
All-Pro return specialist Devin Hester helped the Bears finish first in the NFL in special-teams scoring and kickoff starting point and second in punt returns. In 2007, Hester returned six kicks for touchdowns, breaking the NFL record of five he had set as a rookie in 2006.
Toub keeps a list of Hester’s career TDs on a grease board in his office as a quick reference tool. Given that Toub has run out of adjectives to describe the electrifying playmaker, the special teams coordinator probably should put a thesaurus on his desk as well.
“I’ve come to the point now where I just say that after the catch, he’s the best,” Toub said. “There is nobody better.”
The Bears also topped the NFL with eight blocked kicks in 2007, twice as many as any other team. They led the league in kickoff coverage, ranked third in punt coverage and second in field goals, and sent two players to the Pro Bowl in Hester and Brendon Ayanbadejo.
“It’s incredible,” punter Brad Maynard said of finishing No. 1. “We put in a lot of hard work, and it starts with Dave Toub as our leader and [special teams assistant] Kevin O’Dea. It’s really the only way to measure our success, other than Devin scoring touchdowns every game.”
Toub reviews the league rankings with his players every Wednesday during the season.
“We don’t really talk about being No. 1 until the end of the year,” he said. “When there are five or so games left in the year, that’s something we talk about every week, what we need to do to reach our goal.”
“Dave talks about it on Wednesday, but the players talk about it on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as well,” Maynard said. “We want to finish No. 1. That’s our goal.”
Continuity is a major reason the Bears were able to repeat as the NFL’s top special teams unit.
“We’re fortunate to be able to keep a lot of guys,” Toub said. “We did lose some guys, but we kept the major core. Having the same kicker (Robbie Gould), long-snapper (Patrick Mannelly) and punter (Maynard) year-in and year-out, that’s probably the No. 1 thing. And then having Devin and Brendon doesn’t hurt.
"We’ve got good quality guys that know what it takes to do it, and they did it. It’s a major feat.”
LINK
http://www.chicagobears.com/news/New...?story_id=4355
Bears win special teams honor
Bears win special teams honor
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