Lost in the Steelers 5-2 start this year is the play of punter Daniel Sepulveda and the Steelers punt coverage teams. Through 7 games Sepulveda has punted 24 times for a 46.8 average. That his currently 3 full yards better than his career average of 43.8. His net average thus far is 39.4 and that too is better than his career net average of 38.3.
Sepulveda has had the one block against the Titans however, the first of his career, but has dropped 8 inside the opponents 20 with 4 of them being downed and 2 being fair caught. He also has a career long this year of 66 and three in total over 60 yards. Unfortunately the 66 yarder was a touchback.
Of the 7 punts that have been returned, the Steelers coverage unit has only allowed 36 return yards for a 5.1 average. Outstanding. Leading the way in tackles on the returns is rookie cornerback Curtis Brown with 3. Fellow rookie cornerback Cortez Allen has 1 of the other 4 tackles.
Although not a punt, we also can credit Sepulveda for the excellent fake punt pass to Ryan Mundy for 33 yards against the Titans.
If you take out the blocked punt, the opposition has a starting field position of 22.7 this season on 24 punts. Unfortunately though you can\’t take the good without the bad so including the block, the opposition has an average starting field position of 24.3.
Below are the punt by punt stats this year for the Steelers:
| OPP | LOS | TO | LENGTH | RESULT | RET YDS | GROSS | PEN | NET | FPOS | PLAYER |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLT | BLT 43 | BLT EZ | 43 | TBACK | 0 | 23 | N | 23 | BLT 20 | N/A |
| BLT | PIT 27 | BLT 16 | 57 | DOWN | 0 | 57 | N | 57 | BLT 16 | 29-R.Mundy |
| BLT | PIT 29 | BLT 24 | 47 | FCATCH | 0 | 47 | N | 47 | BLT 24 | N/A |
| BLT | PIT 20 | BLT 16 | 64 | DOWN | 0 | 64 | N | 64 | BLT 16 | 29-R.Mundy |
| SEA | PIT 34 | SEA EZ | 66 | TBACK | 0 | 46 | N | 46 | SEA 20 | N/A |
| SEA | PIT 16 | SEA 36 | 48 | RETURN | 0 | 48 | N | 48 | SEA 36 | 55-S.Sylvester |
| SEA | PIT 39 | SEA EZ | 61 | TBACK | 0 | 41 | N | 41 | SEA 20 | N/A |
| IND | IND 40 | IND 10 | 30 | FCATCH | 0 | 30 | N | 30 | IND 10 | N/A |
| IND | IND 45 | IND EZ | 45 | TBACK | 0 | 25 | N | 25 | IND 20 | N/A |
| IND | PIT 37 | IND 26 | 37 | RETURN | 2 | 37 | Y | 45 | IND 18 | 31-C.Brown |
| HST | PIT 48 | HST 6 | 46 | DOWN | 0 | 46 | N | 46 | HST 6 | 29-R.Mundy |
| HST | PIT 15 | HST 42 | 43 | RETURN | 1 | 43 | Y | 52 | HST 33 | 50-L.Foote |
| HST | PIT 18 | HST 27 | 55 | RETURN | 13 | 55 | N | 42 | HST 40 | 31-C.Brown |
| HST | PIT 9 | HST 33 | 58 | RETURN | 3 | 58 | N | 55 | HST 36 | 31-C.Brown |
| TEN | PIT 43 | TEN 9 | 48 | RETURN | 10 | 48 | N | 38 | TEN 19 | 50-L.Foote 60-G.Warren |
| TEN | PIT 37 | PIT 30 | -7 | BLOCK | 30 | 0 | Y | 0 | PIT 37 | N/A |
| JAX | PIT 35 | JAX 22 | 43 | DOWN | 0 | 43 | N | 43 | JAX 22 | 60-G.Warren |
| JAX | JAX 45 | JAX EZ | 45 | TBACK | 0 | 25 | N | 25 | JAX 20 | N/A |
| JAX | PIT 35 | JAX 10 | 55 | RETURN | 7 | 55 | N | 48 | JAX 17 | 28-C.Allen |
| JAX | PIT 33 | JAX 21 | 46 | OBOUNDS | 0 | 46 | N | 46 | JAX 21 | N/A |
| JAX | PIT 29 | JAX 48 | 23 | OBOUNDS | 0 | 23 | N | 23 | JAX 48 | N/A |
| JAX | PIT 33 | JAX 23 | 44 | FCATCH | 0 | 44 | N | 44 | JAX 23 | N/A |
| ARZ | ARZ 43 | ARZ 7 | 36 | DOWN | 0 | 36 | N | 36 | ARZ 7 | 94-L.Timmons |
| ARZ | PIT 25 | ARZ 42 | 33 | FCATCH | 0 | 33 | Y | 43 | ARZ 42 | N/A |
| ARZ | PIT 40 | ARZ 11 | 49 | FCATCH | 0 | 49 | N | 49 | ARZ 11 | N/A |
