Steelers at Jets: Special teams review

We've been breaking down this week's game against Pittsburgh. We wrap up today's analysis with a look at the special teams.

Let's review the key contributions...

Kicking game - Ficken the blood

Sam Ficken had a perfect day on Sunday, with three field goals and one extra point. That doesn't sound like much, but it's actually only the second time he's had a game without a miss since week eight.

He did so under some pressure too, especially on his last kick, and did well to drive a low kick over from a career-best 54 yards.

The Steelers did a good job of splitting the protection on the edge with one rusher slipping in between Folorunso Fatukasi and Daniel Brown and another doing the same thing in between Conor McDermott and Trevon Wesco.

On kick-offs, only two of Ficken's five kicks made it to the end zone.

The Jets also had issues with pressure in punt protection with Brown, Wesco and Neville Hewitt all allowing their man to get close to a block. This led to an uneven performance by punter Lachlan Edwards, who got a lucky bounce on one punt to pad his numbers but had a bad shank to set the Steelers up with great field position on their last possession.

Return game - Berri impressive

Braxton Berrios extended his league lead in punt return average to 2.1 yards with a nice 20-yard runback on his only return. Unfortunately, that was the only chance he got because the vices were routinely getting beaten by the Steelers gunners.

Vyncint Smith got beaten on one play where Berrios had to take a fair catch and Bless Austin got burned on another. Even on the Berrios return, he caught the ball under heavy pressure as Smith and Maurice Canady both got beaten. Austin took over from Canady in that role after halftime when Canady replaced him on defense.

On kick-offs, Ty Montgomery only got one opportunity and he took a short kick to the 25 only for Tarell Basham to get called for holding.

Berrios also fielded a squib kick right before half-time but he had to just fall on the loose ball after muffing the initial catch.

Kick coverage - Frank's a lot

The Jets had some issues in kick coverage this week, as Diontae Johnson gave the Steelers some good field position by averaging 13.3 yards on three returns. There was also a 30-yard return negated by a hold.

Frankie Luvu led the way this week with two special teams tackles, including a nice hit near the 20 on the opening kickoff. Harvey Langi was also credited with one solo tackle and one assist, giving him eight total tackles on the year and extending his team lead to three. It would take a monster game from someone next week for Langi not to be the team's leading special teams tackler at the end of the year.

The only other players credited with a tackle were Edwards, Wesco and Brandon Copeland, but Canady also helped trip the return man on one play.

Also in coverage, Darryl Roberts and Montgomery had missed tackles and Smith overpursued once. Roberts was also blocked off completely by the vice on one punt.