Kicking it with Seahawks punter Jon Ryan
Sep 22, 2014, 1:58 PM | Updated: 2:16 pm
There have been games in which Jon Ryan averaged more yards per punt.
There have also been three games in which he placed more punts inside an opponent’s 20-yard line.
But there has never been a game by a Seahawks punter quite like the one Ryan had Sunday from the 50.2 yards he averaged on his six punts to the five he placed inside the opponent’s 20 to the 79 yards he booted the ball – on the fly – on a free kick.
To give you an idea of just how long that was, the franchise record for the longest punt is 77 yards, set by Ryan (naturally) during a 2011 game against San Francisco in which the ball bounced past the returner.
Here are the raw numbers: Ryan punted six times, the longest of which was 66 yards. Five of those kicks wound up inside the Broncos’ 20. The franchise record for punts inside the 20 is six, which has been done six times. Three of those are by Ryan.
But the most impressive play of the day was the sheer distance he put into that line drive of a free kick that proved something Ryan has felt all season.
“I’ve just been feeling good all season, training camp and into the season,” he said.
Ryan just didn’t have much of a chance to show it. In fact, during the preseason, Seattle’s offense was so potent that Ryan went eight full quarters without ever kicking the ball.
But in the second half against San Diego and throughout Sunday’s game against Denver, he had a chance to put his foot into it.
“We’ve been backed up and in fourth-down situations and I kind of got to let the leg go a little bit,” Ryan said.