The NFL has seen a record number of missed field goals and extra points in Week 4.
The “best kicker in nfl” is a record that has been set by the NFL kickers. The record was broken last week.
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ESPN Editor Tory Barron
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- Tory Barron is an ESPN.com writer and editor located in Bristol. After retiring from lacrosse at UConn, the Washington, DC native decided to try her hand at writing about athletes.
Week 5 will be remembered as the week where all of the kicks were missed from now on. Kickers were getting their roses one minute after a string of game-winning field goals, including Justin Tucker’s NFL-record 66-yarder in Week 3, and then they couldn’t seem to buy a make the next.
Tucker, to be clear, was unharmed in the Baltimore Ravens’ Monday Night Football game against the Indianapolis Colts… because he’s Justin Tucker. Rodrigo Blankenship of the Indianapolis Colts, on the other hand, was not so fortunate.
When Blankenship kicked the 13th failed extra point of the week, his name was added to the list of kickers who have succumbed to the Week 5 curse.
Rodrigo Blankenship’s PAT attempt on #MondayNightFootball was the NFL’s 13th miss this week.
In the Super Bowl era, it is the most failed PATs in a single week.
It’s also the most failed kicks in a week since Week 11, 1987 (includes 12 missed field goals).
October 12, 2021 — NFL Research (@NFLResearch)
Blankenship missed a 47-yard field goal attempt on the last play of regulation (his 13th muffed kick of the week) not long after the above was tweeted, bringing his total to 26 muffed kicks since Thursday.
Since the point after touchdown was moved from the 2-yard line to the 15-yard line in 2015, this is the first week with at least 10 failed field goals and at least 10 missed extra points.
During Thursday Night Football, Los Angeles Rams kicker Matt Gay missed an extra point on his team’s first score against the Seattle Seahawks. From then, things rapidly deteriorated.
The poor luck continued in London on Sunday morning, as New York Jets kicker Matt Ammendola botched an extra-point try on the Jets’ first score of the day, resulting in an early defeat to the Atlanta Falcons.
Week 5 then caught up with Mason Crosby on Sunday afternoon. The Green Bay Packers’ kicker had hit 27 consecutive field goals coming into the game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Crosby seemed to take it personally in Week 5, missing three critical field goals and an extra point before kicking the game-winning field goal.
Crosby shanked a 36-yarder wide left with 2:12 remaining in the game, tying Green Bay and Cincinnati at 22. The Bengals subsequently moved into field goal range for their own go-ahead field goal try, but Evan McPherson’s 57-yard effort was also a miss in an unexpected turn of events.
Crosby was once again in position to be the hero after a fast strike from Aaron Rodgers to Davante Adams. He, on the other hand, missed a 51-yard field goal, forcing the game into overtime.
IN CINCY, WE’RE GOING TO OT.
: NFL app pic.twitter.com/1yeHFK44UP #GBvsCIN on FOX
10 October 2021 — NFL (@NFL)
In overtime, the Packers intercepted Joe Burrow, giving Crosby another shot at a game-winning field goal. He missed, much to the astonishment of no one reading this. This allowed Cincinnati’s McPherson a second opportunity to score the game-winning goal. He, too, had missed it.
It smacked the flag?!
: NFL app pic.twitter.com/zeLsexFvwA #GBvsCIN on FOX
10 October 2021 — NFL (@NFL)
Crosby made amends with a 49-yard field goal to give the Packers the victory.
But the collective kicking problems didn’t end there.
The Los Angeles Chargers won their game against the Cleveland Browns, but it wasn’t because of their kickers. With just over three minutes left, Tristan Vizcaino missed a pair of extra points, including one that would have tied the game at 42 after Austin Ekeler took a screen pass to the house. Vizcaino currently has four missed extra points this season.
The New England Patriots’ tight victory against the Houston Texans included three failed extra points in a succession, in line with the pattern. On the Texans’ first touchdown, Ka’imi Fairbairn missed the PAT, while Patriots kicker Nick Folk responded with a failed PAT of his own on the Patriots’ first touchdown. Fairbairn missed another extra point after Houston scored another touchdown. People, you can’t make this stuff up.
In other games, New Orleans Saints kicker Cody Parkey missed an extra point following an Alvin Kamara touchdown against the Washington Football Team, while Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Matthew Wright missed an extra point on the Jaguars’ first score of the day.
I can’t help but wonder whether the term “missed” has ever been used in a narrative more often. Also, on a somewhat unrelated topic, things for weary kickers worldwide can only get better from here.
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