Photo by The AP

San Diego Chargers punter Mike Scifres had his fourth punt blocked of the year during the Chargers' 29-23 victory in Week 9 over the Houston Texans, making him only the third player to have four or more punts blocked in a single season and tying him for second place for most punts blocked in a season since the AFL-NFL merger of 1970.

As sportswriter Susan Shan pointed out to us, Scifres should probably have five, as he also had a punt deflected in the game but the ball made forward progress and thus was counted for the defense but not against him.

According to Playerfilter, Harry Newsome ('85-'93) has had the most punts blocked in a season with six in his 1988 season with the Steelers. With seven games left in the season, if San Diego's special teams struggles continue, Scifres is right on pace to take the lead.

Scifres joins only one punter to have four punts blocked in a single season - Bryan Wagner in 1990 with the Cleveland Browns:

The consensus is that Scifres is not to blame - breakdowns in the San Diego special teams are. Scifres has been the San Diego punter since 2004 and in 96 games before the 2010 season only had one punt blocked.

For what it's worth, San Diego coach Norv Turner is is guaranteeing no more punts blocked for the entire season. Interesting. You can watch this week's block here, which left Scifres injured, and check out the full list of NFL punters sorted by most punts blocked in a season on our punting leaders page.