While it seems like field-goal kicking is way off, and kickers have blamed the new rule preventing tampering with balls, kickers were connecting on 78 percent of field goals at the halfway mark this season compared with 80 percent at the halfway point last year. That’s not a big enough difference to blame the absence of doctored balls.
Because there are more games decided by three points or less this year than ever before (a third of them), missed field goals mean more and therefore get more attention.
Also, all-time great kickers such as Atlanta’s Morten Andersen and Minnesota’s Gary Anderson are having poor seasons by their high standards.
Anderson, who was 35 of 35 last year, is a below-average 14 of 21 this year. Andersen, who was 23 of 28 last year, is 8 of 13.
Bobby doesn’t kick: When Lions’ coach Bobby Ross chose to go for two points after pulling within four of the Arizona Cardinals with 5:26 left Sunday, he got second-guessed all the way back to Detroit. The Lions failed on the two-point conversion and were down 23-19.
The Lions then drove to the Arizona 11 in the final minutes, but were unable to try a field goal for the tie.
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Every coach carries a chart as a guide on when to go for two. But the chart didn’t help Ross in this case. When behind by 4, the chart forces the coach to make his own decision. Ross was going by the old adage of playing for the win on the road, hoping to trail by two and win with a field goal.
The only other case on the chart that calls for a coach’s decision is when a team is down by one.
Ross defended his decision on Monday based on four factors.
“I think we are a team that sometimes has to take risks,” Ross said.
The other reasons were (1) to put pressure on Arizona, (2) injuries to special teams players and quarterbacks in the 92-degree heat and (3) the Lions have to play three games in 11 days, including a trip to Green Bay Sunday and a Thanksgiving date against the Bears.
Ross didn’t want overtime.
“My concern was if we get in position to put the game away, we need to get it done,” he said.
Ross was so defensive he refused questions on the subject at first, but later relented.
Ross made the decision despite having the league’s hottest placekicker in Jason Hanson. With Hanson, who had missed a 57-yarder, the Lions are in contention whenever they are in enemy territory. Giving him as many chances as possible to tie or win a game would seem to override other considerations. Hanson has hit 16 of 18 field goals this season, including 2 of 3 from beyond 50.
As a former college coach, Ross said he favored the two-point conversion rule.
“I thought it added an element of excitement to the game,” he said. “Look what it’s given y’all. It’s given you bad things to say.”
Rhodes to nowhere: Kicking may seem like the least of coach Ray Rhodes’ problems in Green Bay, but the Packers did get another field goal blocked Sunday. For the third game in a row, Ryan Longwell had a kick blocked, this time from 44 yards in a loss in Dallas.
“To have a field goal blocked three games in a row is ridiculous. I’ll get that straightened out,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes also pointed out that his running game is suffering from poor blocking. In six of the Packers’ nine games, the offense has scored only one touchdown.
“Our runners are getting hit in the backfield. We’re not getting the push we need up front,” Rhodes said. “We have to come up with something and quick. We don’t have enough guys making plays.”
The ancient punter: Mike Horan is back. The punter who finished last season as a Bear has been hired by the St. Louis Rams to finish their season.
At age 40 (and nine months) Horan is the oldest player ever to punt in the NFL, and is tied for the second-oldest player in the league behind Kansas City backup quarterback Warren Moon. Moon is 42 (and will turn 43 Thursday). Oakland backup quarterback Wade Wilson, like Horan, was born on Feb. 1, 1959.
“I’ll keep kicking as long as teams call me,” Horan said.
Fighting Chargers: San Diego teammates Jim Harbaugh and Michael Dumas made up Monday, just in time to start preparing for Sunday’s game against one of Harbaugh’s old teams, the Bears. They engaged in a shouting match during the fourth quarter of the Chargers’ 28-9 loss at Oakland Sunday. Harbaugh was coming off the field after throwing an interception when Dumas confronted him.
“It was like we were squawking at each other,” Harbaugh said. “A half-hour later we had shaken hands and had our arms around each other, a big hug. There’s a bond there now.”