How to keep Dante out of your garden

Sporting News, The, Oct 20, 2003 by Dan Pompei

The ball sails through the autumn air and lands in the arms of Dante Hall.

Time, it seems, is frozen. Several Packers defenders most certainly are, as the Chiefs' most valuable player fields the ball near the left sideline, then finds a crease up the center of the field. He is past 10 Green Bay defenders by the time it takes to get to your feet.

But punter Josh Bidwell dives and gets an arm on Hall's thigh, and that is enough to prevent the best return man in the NFL from scoring yet another touchdown. "That punter did not tackle me by himself," Hall jokingly protests afterward in the glow of a victorious Chiefs locker room in Green Bay. "He had help from the Vince Lombardi ghost."

Maybe it was the ghost that stopped Hall's streak of touchdowns on returns in four straight games. But Hall did have punt returns of 30 and 32 yards against Green Bay, both leading to touchdowns in the Chiefs' 40-34 overtime victory Sunday. So it may take more than calling on dead legends to shut him down.

I watched each of Hall's returns this season and consulted with four of the premier special teams coaches in the business: Mike Sweatman of the Bears, Mike Westhoff of the Jets, John Harbaugh of the Eagles and Gary Zauner of the Ravens. We came up with a game plan to keep this rabbit out of your end zone garden.

The key with punting and kicking off to Hall !s getting hang time like a helicopter. You want height more than depth. Height will enable the coverage team to get downfield and, hopefully, force a fair catch on punts. Depth will make it a longer trip downfield for the punt coverage team, meaning Hall will have more time and space with which to make your coverage team look like the Three Stooges times three, plus Shemp and Curly Joe.

If you have a punter such as Jeff Feagles of the Giants, punting directionally against Hall is highly recommended because if you pin him on one side of the field, you can use the sideline as the 12th man on your coverage team. Punting out of bounds won't work because there isn't a punter in the NFL who call punt the ball 40 yards out of bounds on a consistent basis. And besides, when a punter must turn his body to angle the ball, the risk of a block--or a dreaded shank--increases considerably.

Kicking off to a corner of the field also is recommended, but don't kick it out of bounds. With the wind causing problems, the Packers accidentally kicked off twice out of bounds, which gave the Chiefs the ball on their 40. Line drives and squib kicks are too risky, because there is a chance one of those kicks can get to him in 2 1/2 seconds, way before your coverage men are anywhere near Hall. But you can't keep kicking off the same way. For a changeup, faking an onside kick might have the same effect on the Chiefs' blocking scheme that a wild mouse might have on a gathering of Girl Scouts.

Even with ideal hang time of 4.5 seconds or more on punts, you can't count on your gunners getting to Hall by the time the ball gets to him because the Chiefs often double-team the gunners. When they do this, however, it gives you a chance to get one of your inside guys downfield because you should have at least two men more than the Chiefs on the line. So it's important that every one of the players on the line can run, elude a blocker and make a tackle. Toward that end, play starting linebackers and safeties on coverage teams against Hall.

The Chiefs typically set up their kickoff returns behind a three-man wedge of guard Donald Willis, linebacker Monty Beisel and tight end Billy Baber, with running back Derrick Blaylock trailing the trio and picking the hole for Hall. You want to blow up the wedge with four men, but in order to do that, they'll have to get past six blockers who are out in front.

We recommend that your coverage team doesn't just line up five on each side of your kicker. Jazz it up like the lets and Packers do, stacking players, bunching up a group, or looping them around at the kickoff. This could confuse the Chiefs' blockers or help to get you the most desirable matchups in order to get to the wedge. Just be sure your players maintain their lane integrity and don't get so fancy that you beat yourself.

Many of Hall's long returns have been the result of tacklers failing to break down as they approach him. On his 73-yard punt return touchdown against Houston, two coverage men ran right past him. On his 100-yard kickoff return against Pittsburgh, two others ran past him.

"It's going to take more than one guy to stop him," says CBS analyst Steve Tasker, who was one of the NFL's best special teams players. "You have to break down as you approach him and make him stop and make a decision. You have to make sure they all don't try to make the tackle themselves. Play team coverage. It's like the game you played as a kid when everyone held hands--Red Rover."

Now you're ready. Let Dante come over.

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For up-to-the-minute NFL news, including injury updates, roster moves and much more, go to foxsports.com. keyword. NFL