Nick Bellore takes the blame for Seahawks’ latest special teams mishap

For the second week in a row, Seattle Seahawks punter Michael Dickson was in the rushing yards column for the wrong reasons.

Standing in his end zone, Dickson received the snap from Carson Tinker and instead of punting, he got swarmed by Arizona Cardinals players and fumbled the ball. Arizona’s Chris Banjo recovered for what would be the Cardinals’ only touchdown of the game. Replays showed that Dickson was pretty much destined to have his punt blocked, which indicates a massive bust in protection.

Special teams captain Nick Bellore spoke to Seahawks beat writer John Boyle, putting the blame on himself for what happened on Sunday.

“It was a look we had seen before, and the call is based on what I do,” Bellore said. “I set the protection, and that is why ultimately, they were able to block it. It was one of those things where I figured we’d be OK if we blocked it that way, and their rush was schemed for it. Ultimately, if I get us into the call we’re supposed to be in, it should be blocked up fine. I saw it a way I shouldn’t have, and it worked against us. I don’t want anyone else taking the heat for that.”

Last week against the New Orleans Saints, the Seahawks tried a rugby-style punt and it failed spectacularly. A stat correction has Dickson not losing a fumble on the play, but it led to a touchdown shortly thereafter. It’s officially a turnover on downs instead of a turnover, but it was nevertheless awful to watch and similarly could’ve ended in a block had Dickson tried to kick.

Dickson’s officially got two rush attempts for -18 yards in his personal box score this year.

The Seahawks special teams has had an uneven start to the season and has turned it over three times already, and the Saints debacle was effectively a fourth. All of them have led to touchdowns, so this group really has to clean some things up moving forward.