G.Lew Causes A Slew Of Problems

Greg Lewis was banged up on the first punt coverage after a Philadelphia 3 and out to start the opener against the Packers, as he laid on the field for a few moments having to collect himself, no one realized that this beginning would truly foreshadow the night that Lewis was about to have.

After going through the entire pre-season with the primary focus at punt returner on Jeremy Bloom, problems were bound to arise when Bloom was released and Greg Lewis was expected to return instead. It would have been more understandable to see Bloom cut in favor of a veteran at the return position, but that wasn't the case as Greg might have been on the team since 2003 but had never returned a punt in his career.

As much as we have had a lack of production at both return positions throughout the recent years, at least when Reno Mahe was in control of punts he did as he was told, secured the ball and didn't create turnovers. From a field position standpoint Mahe was never much help, but you would much rather have complete ball security than a player that might break a run but is prone to fumble, turnovers are entirely unacceptable.

Mahe was the butt of an ongoing joke, fans never understood why the coaches kept him around for 4 years and it was often referenced to the fact that he went to Andy Reid's alma mater Brigham Young University. Regardless of a lack of immense talent on the field he was a great guy off of it and that had to have had an impact on the longevity of his career because in all honesty he was extremely lucky in being able to be in this league for as long as he was.

When Mahe's contract was up at the end of last season, the front office didn't re-sign him and all of the stock was put into 2nd year player Jeremy Bloom who was coming off of his rookie season spent on injured reserve. I absolutely loved what I saw in Bloom during training camp, the hard work and determination was unmistakable and though he didn't do anything amazing during the pre-season, he seemed to be a solid player. The coaches obviously disagreed with my observations as he was cut heading into the 53-man roster.

That move left a whole at both return positions because Bloom had been working on both kicks and punts. To stabilize the kick returner, the team brought back 2004 draft pick J.R. Reed who had been bouncing around the NFL for the past season since his release from the Eagles in 2006. Then the punt return duties were given to Lewis, which turned out to not necessarily be the best decision of the season.

Going back to Sunday against the Packers, Lewis gets his first punt return opportunity of the year maybe it was the anxiousness of wanting to start off well, possibly he lost focus, something happened. Lewis made an idiotic move in not calling a fair catch so when he went down to catch the ball with Packers defenders ready to swarm, he got hit and fumbled the ball. Then it was a free for all with guys falling all over one another trying to recover the fumble, eventually forcing the ball back into the end zone as a Green Bay player fell on it, resulting in a touchdown.

Not the best way you want to start a year, it was by far one of the biggest flubs we will see this season, but despite the disappointment we were a far better team so it wouldn't take too much to make that touchdown meaningless by getting our offense out there and putting more points on the board. Unfortunately that never ended up paying off, after the defense forced Favre to a 3 and out, Donovan was going to get the ball back with 1:09 left on the clock and the game tied at 13.

With Greg having previously fumbled combined with a few other questionable decisions later in the game, it was no surprise when J.R. Reed was brought out to return punts in the 4th quarter, still though this was Reed's first time returning punts in his NFL career. On his first return he gained 8 yards, more than Lewis had gained on his 4 returns combined, so things began to look up. Now back to the 1:09 left in the game, tied at 13, the ball is punted to Reed which would be his second punt return of the day, he fumbles.

The supposed improvement over Greg Lewis makes a bad decision in trying to catch the ball instead of just letting it bounce, and he fumbles. It's recovered by Green Bay, giving them the chance to set up a field goal, which they do and win the game.

Instead of dwelling on a situation like this you need to see what can be done to prevent it from happening again. Right now Brian Westbrook's name has been mentioned, having done the job in the past he is an excellent option, we just have shied away from that because it does provide extra chance for injury and he is such a irreplaceable offensive player.

Here's a scenario which will probably not happen but it can't hurt to speculate: If you went ahead and cut Greg Lewis, we have 7 WR's on the roster so that wouldn't be an issue of bringing in a returner who didn't also play WR. Than you could always bring back a guy, not the most favorable of decisions, but bring Reno back at least temporarily to secure the spot until we can bring in someone else. That would mean we would have 5 running backs on the depth chart, but Reno never saw the ball in the running game

At this point in the season you are at a loss when it comes to having to sign new players. Pretty much what is on your roster now is what you have to keep, there are guys out on the street that you might sign basically as a practice body if an injury occurs to another player, but you don't expect actual production. So we would basically have to swallow some pride and bring Reno back for the best of the team, though he isn't the most desirable at the position, he at least provides some security.