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Adoree’ Jackson vs. Houston Texans Special Teams: Advantage, Titans

By Matias Wodner

JACKSONVILLE, FL - SEPTEMBER 17: Adoree' Jackson #25 of the Tennessee Titans returns a punt deep in front of Brad Nortman #3 of the Jacksonville Jaguars during the second half of their game at EverBank Field on September 17, 2017 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Logan Bowles/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FL - SEPTEMBER 17: Adoree' Jackson #25 of the Tennessee Titans returns a punt deep in front of Brad Nortman #3 of the Jacksonville Jaguars during the second half of their game at EverBank Field on September 17, 2017 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Logan Bowles/Getty Images) /
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Adoree’ Jackson is in line to have a field day against the Houston Texans special teams unit in the upcoming division game on Sunday.

For years, the Tennessee Titans were among the worst in the league when it came to special teams. They never seemed to have an explosive kick or punt returner, and they regularly ranked in the bottom half of the league in terms of yardage per return allowed to opposing teams.

Just last season we saw the Houston Texans, the Titans’ upcoming opponent, return a punt return for a touchdown by way of Will Fuller. The Titans were one of the worst teams in the league last year in return yard average against, and Marc Mariani could get nothing going on the Titans’ end when the turn came.

The year is now 2017 and the times have changed. Take out a long kickoff return by Pro Bowl returner Cordarrelle Patterson in Week 1, and the Titans have allowed just 22 yards per kick return and 6.8 per punt return.

Inversely, the Titans now have an electric, dynamic returner in Adoree’ Jackson, who already has a long kick return of 35 yards (that included hurdling a kicker) and a long punt return of 46. He also had an 80-yard punt return for touchdown brought back by a [phantom] penalty last week. Every time he touches the ball, it feels as if he’s taking it to the house.

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Now Jackson gets the literal worst special teams coverage unit in the league. The Texans are giving up 30 yards per kick return, the most in the NFL, and 17.6 yards per punt return, the third-most in the league. What’s intriguing is that the numbers aren’t skewed by a long return touchdown. The Texans haven’t given up a return touchdown yet, but they are getting chunks of field position taken out because of their kick and punt coverage.

The kick return average might prove to be a bit fluky, as the Texans have only had to cover on four kickoffs, but they’ve had to cover on nine punts, which is tied for the fourth-most in the league. That’s a fairly large sample size of ineffectiveness on the side of punt return coverage by the Texans.

When the Texans faced off against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football in Week 2, I was truly shocked by how good Alex Erickson, and even Adam Jones, looked on returns throughout the whole game. In that game, Erickson popped a 26-yard punt return and a 41-yard kick return, while Jones uncorked a 33-yard punt return of his own.

If Erickson and Jones can do that sort of damage, imagine what Jackson, who is faster and has better vision than them, can do. Buckle your seat belts, because this is the week Adoree’ gets his touchdown.

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