There’s a kicking crisis breaking out in the NFL this season, and there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight.
The latest example of a kicker leaving his team kicking itself took place at Tampa Bay last Sunday when Buccaneers rookie Matt Gay missed a chip-shot 34-yard field goal on the final play of a 32-31 Giants victory that should have been a 34-32 Buccaneers win.
Earlier in that loss, Gay missed an extra point and had another attempt blocked. So, with three missed kicks from distances that not long ago seemed automatic, Gay cost the Buccaneers five points in a game they lost by one.
On Monday, the day after the heartbreaking loss, Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians stood behind Gay, telling reporters, “He ain’t goin’ anywhere.”
This is a quandary for Arians for a couple of reasons. First, the Buccaneers have gone through an NFL-high 11 different kickers since 2009. Second, should the Bucs pursue a 12th kicker in that span, the options on the street are likely not much better than Gay, whom they selected with a fifth-round draft pick this year.
Gay, to his credit, owned his nightmarish day against the Giants, telling reporters, “The loss is 100 percent on me.’’
“I’ve got to live and learn from what I did, go back and make sure I learn from the mistakes I made … but look at going forward,” Gay said. “In those moments, it’s ‘no excuses.’ You’ve got to put it through, so that’s just 100 percent on me. I’ve got to make it.”
Arians was defiant in insisting he doesn’t believe in one failure at the tenuous position leading to another, saying, “This history s–t … this is a new team, this is our team, a new team. Just go kick.’’
Gay’s struggle hardly has been an isolated incident around the league. Even some of the best kickers the NFL has ever seen have uncharacteristically faltered.
Just more than a week ago, it looked like Adam Vinatieri, one of the most clutch kickers of all time and a likely Hall of Fame entrant, might pull the plug on his own career after missing three extra points and two field goals in the Colts first two games. In his 24-year career, Vinatieri had never missed more than three extra points in a season.
“You would have to talk about this guy as one of the mentally toughest players to ever play the game,’’ Colts coach Frank Reich told reporters in support of Vinatieri.
Vinatieri responded last week by making all five of his kicks, including two field goals, in a three-point win over the Falcons.
Even Stephen Gostkowski, who took over for Vinatieri in New England, missed three extra points and a field goal in the first three games.
No team has butchered its kicking situation more than the Jets, who opted not to re-sign Jason Myers despite the fact Myers made the Pro Bowl last season. Their current kicker is Sam Ficken, who’s their fourth since training camp began.
Chandler Catanzaro suddenly retired in camp and was replaced by Taylor Bertolet, who was replaced by Kaare Vedvik, whose missed extra point and 45-yard field goal were a big part of costing the Jets a 17-16 loss to Buffalo in the season opener.
Too many teams like the Jets take the kicker for granted, and they often end up paying for it. Only time will tell whether Arians’ faith in Gay pays dividends.
