ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Since the end of last season, the Detroit Lions searched and searched for an upgrade at returner.
They brought in a bunch of players for pre-draft visits and eventually picked Ameer Abdullah as a running back with return capability in the second round. They also had a large rotation of players returning kicks and punts during training camp and in preseason games.
Last week, Lions coach Jim Caldwell said the team had not yet made a decision on either returner spot yet. Going into Sunday, TJ Jones -- who ended up being inactive -- was listed as the starting kick and punt returner.
Jones had shown possibilities as a returner during the preseason. But with him inactive, the Lions went with what ended up being a much more explosive option, putting Golden Tate on punt returns and Abdullah returning kicks. After a 2014 season in which the Lions' return game often stagnated with Jeremy Ross, this change immediately paid dividends.
And in a game where both the offense and defense unraveled, the special teams showed they have a chance to be a lot better than they were last season.
Tate averaged 17 yards per punt return. Abdullah averaged 35 yards a kick return, almost breaking two for touchdowns. Entering Monday night’s games, Abdullah was fifth in the NFL in average kick return and Tate was fourth in the league in punt return average.
Combined, they might be the most explosive return duo in the NFL.
“It’s special. It’s definitely special,” receiver Lance Moore said. “Just being able to have the potential to not just put the offense in a good field-position opportunity but to score on any given play, that’s special.
“Not a lot of teams can say that they have a combination like that. A lot of teams will have one guy who can do both. We’ve got two guys that are more than capable of being explosive guys back there, potentially changing the games for us. I think it’ll be something really, really fun to be a part of and fun to watch as the season goes along.”
Abdullah has an idea of what he’s looking for once he catches the ball and decides he’s going to give a return a go.
“Obviously the timing of blocks, the wedge, making sure the wedge has proper fits on their guys, pursuit from the backside and also where the kicker’s fitting,” Abdullah said. “Some kickers, it’s expected to make the kicker miss but sometimes even when you make him miss, the kicker can do a good job of positioning himself to funnel yourself back towards the pursuit.
“You have to make sure you get up on the kicker quick so he doesn’t have that much time to decide which way he’s going to funnel you.”
While this was Abdullah’s first NFL game, Tate had experience returning punts in Seattle. He didn’t return punts last season for the Lions other than one attempted return in the wild card playoff game against Dallas.
This season when Tate was placed back there, it reminded him of old times.
“Just helping and, at worst, making sure our offense is stepping on the field for one and get them one more first down, get us one more first down,” Tate said. “So we don’t have to do it on offense. Had fun.”
Despite the vastly improved return game one week in, Caldwell didn’t commit to having Tate and Abdullah in these roles for the rest of the season -- perhaps considering continuing the rotating returner situation he had throughout training camp, particularly at punt returner with Tate.
“Like I said even before the game, you’re going to see probably a mixture of a number of guys,” Caldwell said. “You could see Ameer back there. You could see a number of guys back there. You could see TJ back there.
“And that’s a good thing. I think we do have some options in that area, but [Tate] did do a nice job for us.”