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No gauntlet was thrown down. No chest was puffed out. There wasn't so much as a single double-dog dare issued.

"No grand proclamations out of me," Oakland Raiders special teams coach Brian Schneider said Thursday. "You ain't getting nothing out of me, that's for sure."

No one knows what happened to the real Schneider, but he better not be harmed. This is the coach who announced to the world his unit would punt the ball to Bears star Devin Hester. The Raiders did, and they stopped the unstoppable Pro Bowler six times for 14 yards on punts.

This week, the Raiders face New Orleans Saints star Reggie Bush, who returned two punts for touchdowns Monday on national television. Suddenly, Schneider got one-part shy and two-parts coy about the plan going in.

"Let's put it this way," Schneider said. "We're going to try to not give him the ball and we're preparing that, if he gets the ball, we have to be ready to tackle him. Hopefully, he has no punt returns."

The surest way to keep Bush from returning punts is to never punt, but that's not realistic for this offense. The Raiders are 31st in third-down efficiency and 29th in first downs per game — and don't think they're getting it all done on second down either.

So, chances are the Raiders will have to punt. Punting is often their best offensive weapon, in terms of field position. Shane Lechler is one of the best punters in the game, and one of the best statistically all-time.

His distance doesn't help against Bush, though. The more space between Bush at the point of catch and the nearest defender, the more wiggle room he has to make them miss.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle