In Week 8, when the New York Jets lost 22-17 to the New England Patriots, their special teams DVOA ranking dropped from third to 10th in the NFL.
That drop may have been the single biggest swing in the game, Zach Wilson’s three interceptions and John Franklin-Myers’s roughing the passer penalty notwithstanding.
The Jets came into the game thinking that they’d have the special teams advantage, mainly in punt returning. After all, New England’s special teams DVOA was 15th-ranked at the time, largely based on the weakness of their punter, Jake Bailey.
At that point, Bailey was averaging just 43.