Browns Punter Dave Zastudil Named AFC Special Teams Player of Week
While we continue to debate whether or not a “win is a win,” Browns fans can at least rejoice in the fact that the team received some recognition for their 6-3 barn burner against the Bills.
Punter Dave Zastudil received some kudos today as he was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. From the team’s media relations:
Zastudil recorded nine punts for 386 yards (42.9 average/42.1 net) with a long of 57 yards during the Browns’ 6-3 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Seven of his nine punts were downed inside the 20, with three placed inside the five-yard line (-1, -1, -4). His final punt was fumbled on the Bills’ 16-yard line and recovered by the Browns, leading to the game-winning field goal seven plays later, with 26 seconds remaining.
Zastudil’s seven punts inside the 20 ties Josh Miller for third-most in a single-game since the statistic was first recorded in 1976.
Zastudil will likely credit his coverage unit, specifically Josh Cribbs, Mike Adams, Blake Costanzo and Eric Wright for their work on several of those punts. It speaks volumes when the only player to receive league recognition is the punter, but on a team that can afford to make zero mistakes, having a special teams unit like we do in Cleveland definitely makes a difference.
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(image via Flickr/r3mdh)
October 14th, 2009 at 11:03 am
For a team that you have to execute perfectly to even be in a game like the Buffalo game, at least we have one unit we can show signs of being an actual football team
October 14th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Let’s all chip in and send the special teams a cookie basket, courtest of WFNY
October 14th, 2009 at 11:14 am
If I were Zastudil I’d just claim my trophy and scream “ME!!!!!”
October 14th, 2009 at 11:21 am
Ohio University Bobcat!!
October 14th, 2009 at 11:24 am
See how nice those white pants look with the white jerseys? The turd pants are just another reason to run Mangini out of here pronto! The man’s an embarrassment to the game.
October 14th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
without question the MVP of the team
October 14th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
So far today, there are 59 comments on an article discussing two bad quarterbacks (well, to be fair, a third of those comments were probably Isis-bashing) and only six for this positive story. Come on CLE fans, embrace the good within the Browns, even if it is the punter. And I don’t think I’m even being sarcastic.
October 14th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
I think if the offense gets going, this teams going places. Look how well the Special Teams play every single game. And the Defense has played really well the last2-3 games. We’re 2/3rds of the way there people!!!
October 14th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
@7 Let’s not fool ourselves. Sarcasm is like air around here.
October 14th, 2009 at 1:04 pm
@8 YEAH!!! SUPERBOWL!!
See?
October 14th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
No Charlie bashing please, just be “patient”.
October 14th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
No Isis bashing please, just “grind.”
October 14th, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Dave puts the STUD in ZaSTUDil. Congrats, No. 15.
October 14th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Today I seriously debate going out and buying the Zastudil jersey to go along with my Cribbs jersey. Or I could rock the Pontbriand jersey instead..
October 14th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
well deserved award
October 14th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
fantastic!
October 17th, 2009 at 10:37 am
[...] the offensive ineptitude from 2008 has continued along with even more defensive lapses. When the special teams unit is the only thing laudable, it is clear the Browns will be on the wrong side of another lopsided [...]
October 20th, 2009 at 10:01 am
[...] our backup quarterback took over three games in, and the only accolades received were due to our punter getting a slew of chances to down balls inside of the 20-yard [...]