20 spots is a huge jump...in most divisions, in the ultra competitive AFCE the Jets jumped up 9 spots to #5 and the Bills were #3. And the Jets added a beast of a kick returner in the CFL's Larry Taylor. As seen in this thread http://forums.thephins.com/showthread.php?t=45429 The plus side is the Bills let perennial top 5 ST coach Bobby April walk this offseason. Pats finished 16th and had the worst punting unit in the NFL, but they will have a healthy Brandon Tate in 2010, he set NCAA records for kick returns.
It's good to see, especially when early in the season, some here were already calling for Bonamego's head and I even read the suggestion of Bowles becoming the ST coach. Something he has never done before.
Despite Rexxy's bluster, the Jets have quietly put together a solid team: #1 rushing offense, #1 defense, #5 special teams unit. They also added a CFLer Larry Taylor who will/could/should replace Leon Washington on kick returns as imho Jones will be released rather than pay him his million dollar roster bonus. The Phins have some players as well, especially Lex Hilliard and Jason Allen, but they have to decide on Ted Ginn or ???? as the return man .
Last was rough, I was nervous everytime we kicked off. This year, I felt pretty confident that our ST unit would hold their own, they did just that. Its a clear sign that the depth on this team is getting better. Im sure it will continue to do so as well. Now I hope were able to find a way to get better protection from our own return unit. It'd be nice to have better starting field position every chance we get.