Postseason honors continue to pour in for the New England Patriots’ special teams standouts.
Patriots punter Jake Bailey and punt returner Gunner Olszewski both earned spots on the Pro Football Writers of America All-NFL and All-AFC teams, which were announced Monday.
Bailey led the NFL in net punting average (45.6 yards) this season, while Olszewski paced all qualified return men in both punt return average (a franchise-record 17.3 yards per runback) and total punt return yards.
Olszewski returned one punt 70 yards for a touchdown and had another score wiped away by a penalty.
Both in their second season with the Patriots, Bailey and Olszewski were the only New England players to receive first-team All-Pro honors from the Associated Press. Bailey also was one of three Patriots Pro Bowlers, along with cornerback Stephon Gilmore and special teamer Matthew Slater.
The Patriots endured struggles on offense and defense in 2020 but were excellent in the kicking game, ranking first in Football Outsiders’ special teams DVOA and in Rick Gosselin’s annual special teams rankings.
