One of the most routine plays in football seemed not so…routine on Sunday. NFL starting kickers missed 19 opportunities yesterday, two shy of setting the single day record since the AFL-NFL merger. To make matters worse, three games came down to what would have been potential game winning field goals at the end of regulation or overtime.
As a Vikings fan I can speak for the entire state of Minnesota after the heartbreaking finish at Lambeau Field yesterday afternoon. WHAT THE HELL! Seriously though, what the hell? Rookie kicker Daniel Carlson missed a 48-yarder in the first half, another 48-yarder on the first drive of OT and then a third miss from 35 yards at the buzzer. Green Bay’s Mason Crosby missed a potential game winner from 52 yards at the end of regulation as well.
Three missed kicks in one game is just absurd. So Minnesota naturally waived Carlson this morning and brought in former Dallas Cowboy Dan Bailey. Now, I said it on the Dump n Chase podcast a few weeks ago, and I could not have been more accurate. Releasing Kai Forbath in favor of a rookie was not going to play out well. The final preseason game and first game without the veteran, Carlson missed two kicks. He made his only FG attempt last week against San Francisco and then completely shook Minneapolis yesterday with his three misses.
You have to feel for the guy, you really do…but it isn’t the first time the Vikes have gotten burned in OT either. See Blair Walsh 2016 Wild Card Round. Anyways, moving on to the other misses around the league and just as you thought the Cleveland Browns couldn’t get any more Cleveland Browns, they do.
Browns kicker Zane Gonzalez missed a FG at the end of OT last week against the Steelers that would have given them their first win in two years, and then he missed two field goals in regulation (one in the dying seconds of the game to tie) and an extra point with 1:16 to take the lead 19-18 at New Orleans yesterday. Like Carlson, Gonzo was waived this morning and Cleveland is still searching for their first win in 19 tries.
Oakland’s Mike Nugent had a PAT blocked in the first quarter that came back to bite the Raiders as the Broncos rallied for a game-winning FG with 4 seconds left in regulation to win 20-19. The list goes on and on, but field goal kicking became the theme of Week 2.
Among the misses on Sunday none were bigger than the two young kickers who are without work this morning. It has become increasingly harder to kick in today’s NFL because of social media. You’re a hero one day and a villain the next. No matter how well a kicker performs they will always be remembered for one, or even two costly misses, veteran or not. It’s arguably a harder position to play than playing quarterback today.
Let’s just look on the bright side…Minnesota last week and Cleveland this week came away with a tie. At least it wasn’t a loss?
Vikings-Packers
I already laid the groundwork and backstory to the Lambeau fiasco that transpired yesterday, but I’m not one of those completely “biased” fans. I know that Carlson might actually still have a job today (although this might actually work out for the Vikes in the long run) if it weren’t for the new rule change sweeping across the NFL. No, I’m not talking about the helmet-to-helmet rule. I’m talking about the “Aaron Rodgers Rule.”
Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr ended the majority of Rodgers’ season in 2017 after tackling him outside of the pocket and finishing the play to the ground, injuring his collarbone. Although it was not flagged on the play, the Packers were irate. So, what did the league do? Made it nearly impossible to decipher how one can tackle the quarterback.
I get it. The league wants to make the game safer, but we have seen far too many flags thrown in the first two weeks on roughing the passer and it has altered the outlook of games.
Yesterday afternoon in Green Bay was one of those games. With Minnesota trailing by eight with fewer than two minutes to play Kirk Cousins launched a 50 yard bomb downfield that was intercepted but called back by the new rule. Packers linebacker Clay Matthews hit Cousins as he released the ball, tackled him around the waist and, according to long-time NFL referee Tony Corrente, “drove” him into the ground.
Watching it live and even on replay you can tell Matthews put his left hand on the ground and eased up once Cousins was hitting the field of play. There should not have been a flag and the game should have ended. Even though I’m a Vikings fan and was happy that they capitalized on having second life, I’m not blind to the fact that we stole a tie. You could even say that it was justice for the thrown flag. It is what it is and the media and the fans are left debating the rule altogether.
Now the ending of the NFC North rivalry leads me into my next topic: ties.
NFL Overtime
For the first time in forever we have seen ties in consecutive weeks in the NFL. Browns-Steelers Week 1 and Vikings-Packers Week 2. I have never been a big fan of the OT format in the NFL, even with the revamped format of both team’s getting a chance if the receiving team scores a FG.
If the league just goes to a similar styled college format where both teams get the ball from the 30 I think it will work wonders for both the players and the fans. Nobody wants to come away with a tie, especially after playing 60-plus minutes and putting your life on the line.
It could shorten the length of overtime and also give both teams a fair chance instead of putting in the hands of a coin flipping referee.
Madden 2018
It’s September 2005, just after midnight. You’re having a sleepover at your best buddy’s house and staying up late to play the newly-released Madden 2005 video game. You both decide to create your own team, players and stadium, while also doing a league fantasy draft. The player you create is now the Minnesota Panthers starting quarterback and playing under center Week 1 at New England. Every play is a pass to your buddy who is a created wide receiver and you throttle the defending Super Bowl Champs by 40 on All-Pro mode. Life is good!
Fast forward to 2018 and the Kansas City Chiefs may have just found their own Madden signal caller. Patrick Mahomes set an NFL record for most passing touchdowns through two weeks (10). He threw for six TD’s yesterday against the Steelers in a hostile environment at Heinz Field and finished the game completing 23 of 28 passes for 326 yards, converting more touchdown passes than incompletions to lead the Chiefs to an upset victory on the road.
Through his first two games in 2018 Mahomes has completed 33 of 55 passes for 582 yards, 10 touchdowns and two wins. So far he has made the Alex Smith trade look spectacular and he is putting the ball in windows that Smith was hesitant to do. These video game numbers probably won’t last, but through the first two weeks of the year he has looked like a created player on Madden 2018.
FitzMagic Part 2
The Harvard graduate has the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sailing at full speed in 2018. Just as everybody expected, Ryan Fitzpatrick has guided the “bottom feeding” NFC South squad to a 2-0 start, and Tampa is sitting in first place in the division.
The defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles traveled south this weekend to Tampa and were sent back to the City of Brotherly Love with a loss. Fitzmagic threw for 402 yards, his second 400-yard game of the season, and four touchdowns as the Bucs held their ground on Philly’s comeback bid to win 27-21.
Through two games Fitz has thrown for 819 yards, thrown eight touchdowns and rushed for one. He is second to Mahomes in total touchdowns with nine and has the most fantasy points of any quarterback in 2018.
Fitzpatrick undressed two of the league’s top ranked defenses in the first two weeks and his deep threat Desean Jackson has reestablished himself as a legitimate receiver. Like Mahomes, his video game production will likely slow but it is something that has shifted the direction of the franchise.
As Jameis Winston remains suspended there shouldn’t even be a conversation about who should start when he returns. Tampa needs to move on from their former first-overall pick and trade him to a team in need. He is too troubled and his character is something that cannot be overlooked. I have never been a Winston fan. From the crab leg incident to the sexual assault case at Florida State to the Uber driver instance, it’s just too much and he should not be the face of the Bucs franchise.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe in second chances. But Jameis has too much of a troubled past and his flaws are too high that they have finally caught up to him in the NFL. FitzMagic may not be the long term solution, but you let him play out the year and trade Winston for draft picks if you can.
Steel City Woes?
Heading into the 2018 season many had picked the Steelers to win the AFC. They have the Killer B’s (Bell, Ben and Brown) on offense, and what looked like a top 10 defense on paper. They were coming off a brutal loss at home in the playoffs and looking for revenge, while the Patriots struggled in the preseason after finding out that they have zero WR1’s and a shaky defense.
Through two weeks Le’Veon Bell has yet to sign, Ben has gotten banged up; Brown can’t seem to stay off Twitter and made some average Joe relevant by replying to a tweet saying, “Trade me then.” This was in response to a tweet that said Big Ben got him paid and he is only a product of Pitt’s system. Whatever the case may be, star athletes should not put anything of this magnitude on social media, but AB continues to amaze the media every year.
This is just one hiccup of the many that have hindered the Steelers’ ability to win in 2018. The offensive line called out Bell which apparently made him not want to report? I don’t know… nobody does. But what I do know is that the locker room separation has had an effect on the field, Pittsburgh is winless in two games and they nearly handed the Browns their first win since December 2016.
I originally picked Pittsburgh a few weeks back to come out of the AFC, but overrode the selection before Week 1. They have continuously underachieved since 2010 and given everything that has gone on in both the preseason and regular season it’s safe to say that this is the beginning of the end for the Killer B’s run. There is too much turmoil in the Steel City and it could quite possibly be the end of an era.
FedEx Cup Playoffs
Only 30 golfers are still standing in the hunt for the Tour Championship this weekend at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia, but many questions remain.
Is Tiger finally back and will he make putts?
Can DeChambeau defy golf with science and take the crown?
Will Justin Thomas go back-to-back?
Can Dustin Johnson put the Gretzky rumors behind him and not slip down the stairs Wednesday night ahead of the finale?
Who knows, but there are two things that are a for sure. One: the weather (which sounds unlikely). It looks like there will be some showers on Friday that could alter the tournament but nothing fires me up more than golfing in the rain! Slow greens, thick rough and rain gear. It brings out peoples true characters and adds another element to the game.
The second certainty is that Patrick Reed’s parents will not be in attendance. He has made it very clear that he does not have a sound relationship with them due to his wife, and he had their 2018 Masters Sunday passes revoked the morning he won the Green Jacket. He is truly an awful human being, but he and DeChambeau make for a couple of enemies for the fans to root against.
My pick to win at East Lake this weekend is Dustin Johnson, and I believe that Dechambeau struggles just enough for DJ to take the FedEx Cup playoff as well.
My Dark Horse to win in Atlanta and the overall Tour Championship is the Italian native Francesco Molinari. He will need some help, but he has played the best golf of his career in 2018 and could cap it off with a win on Sunday.