Mark Craig: Packers' Masthay makes punt no longer a sign of surrender

If Tom Coughlin had Tim Masthay on his side three weeks ago, the Giants would have made the playoffs and the Packers would be the ones sitting at home still kicking themselves.

That's how important special teams can be. That's how important a punter can be. That's how important Tim Masthay was last Sunday against the Bears and could be this Sunday in an NFC wild-card game at Philadelphia.

Three weeks ago, Coughlin, the Giants coach, needed his rookie punter, Matt Dodge, to boot the ball away from the Eagles' DeSean Jackson in the closing seconds of a game the Eagles had tied after trailing 31-10 in the fourth quarter. Instead, Dodge made the mistake that felled a season, drilling a line drive right to Jackson.

You know the rest of the story. Jackson became the first player in NFL history to win a game with a punt return for a touchdown with no time remaining. In 65 zig-zagging, you-have-to-be-kidding yards, the Giants went from seizing control of the NFC East to sliding right out of the playoffs two weeks later.

To earn the playoff spot the Giants gagged away, the Packers had to face down an even more dangerous returner, the most dangerous in NFL history, Chicago's Devin Hester, in what was an elimination game for them at Lambeau Field last Sunday. It was supposed to be a bad matchup for the Packers. After all, the Bears have dominated the Packers in special teams in the seven seasons that coach Lovie Smith and special teams coach Dave Toub have worked together in Chicago.

That includes the first meeting this season. In a 20-17 loss at Soldier Field in September, Masthay's punting lost the game. Or at least it shared the blame with a franchise-record 18 penalties, as Hester returned one poor punt 62 yards for a touchdown and another one deep into Packers' territory.

Last Sunday was a much different story, which is why a first-year punter, Masthay, was among the green-and-gold heroes swarmed under by reporters following a 10-3 victory.

The only punt returner to make a difference in that game was Green Bay's Tramon Williams, whose 41-yard return set up the tying field goal. As for Hester, he made only two harmless returns out of eight punts. Four were downed inside the 20-yard line, including back-to-back punts to the 2- and 3-yard lines with the Bears trying to come back late in the game.

"We were able to do exactly what we wanted," Masthay said. "And that was to eliminate Hester."

Now comes another test against one of the fastest teams in the league, led by Jackson, who might be the fastest of them all as both a return man and receiver.

"Yeah," Masthay said. "I'm going from Devin Hester to DeSean Jackson. There's not much dropoff there."

Hester had three touchdowns while setting the NFL season record for punt return average (17.1). Jackson had the one touchdown, and his 11.6 average ranked seventh among punt returners with at least 20 attempts.

Masthay's first regular-season assignment also came at Philadelphia four months ago. The Packers won 27-20 and Masthay made Jackson a non-factor as a punt returner. Jackson had two fair catches and returned two of four punts for a total of 14 yards.

Masthay has had his rocky moments as well. The Packers were even considering a change after the first Bears game. But then Masthay saved his job in a 9-0 win against the Jets on Halloween. The Jets didn't have a single return yard as Masthay tied a 32-year-old franchise-record with five punts downed inside the 20.

"He's our punter," said Packers special teams coach Shawn Slocum. "And he's a good player."