New England Patriots team grades vs Pittsburgh Steelers Week 15

The special teams for both the Patriots and Steelers did well on Sunday. For the most part, both units got the job done to put their respective teams in position to win.

Punter Ryan Allen wasn’t called upon much, but he got the job done when he was. Allen had two punts in the game with a long of 54 yards. He placed one of those punts inside the 20-yard line

Allen’s counterpart, Joe Berry, also had a strong game. He punted directionally well, as Danny Amendola had only one chance to return a punt out of the four that Berry had. Amendola returned it for 11 yards. The Patriots punt coverage team was solid, as Eli Rogers gained only two yards on his one return.

Coverage on the kickoffs was solid for the most part for New England. Smith-Schuster found some space, averaging 24.5 yards per return. They contained Fitzgerald Toussaint, who averaged 12 yards on his three returns.

Dion Lewis didn’t fare any better in his kickoff return attempts. Lewis averaged only 18.5 yards per return on his four attempts.

Next: Patriots Escape Pittsburgh With Series Changing Win

Stephen Gostkowski missed his first extra point attempt since Week 2, pushing his first attempt wide left. Luckily that missed extra point didn’t come back to hurt the Patriots. He did make both of his field goal attempts, knocking them in from 46 and 32 yards.