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11	Dezember 2018

Vikings kickers Minnesota had a couple of bad breaks

Through the years: throughout the passed couple of decades when it comes to wide-left missed field goals Womens Customized Minnesota Vikings Jerseys , but overall the Vikings have had solid kickers who knew how to get the job done.Let�s take a dive into the Vikings time capsule and start in 1998. More specifically, the 1998 NFC Championship game against the Atlanta Falcons. Why not bring up bad memories? For those who don�t know, kicker Gary Anderson was perfect all season heading into that matchup against the Falcons. He went 35 of 35 and his longest coming from 53 yards. He was three of three in the playoffs before he missed the 39-yard field goal that could have potentially put a stamp on Minnesota going to the Super Bowl. That was the only time in his career where he made every field goal in the regular-season. Anderson played with Minnesota until the 2002 season. He played in 78 regular-season games and for the most part had a pretty successful boot. He nailed 109 of 129 field goals while with the Vikings, that�s a 84.5 percent success rate. That�s not bad at all. According to Athlon Sports, Anderson is considered the sixth greatest kicker in Super Bowl era history. The man played for 25 seasons and despite what happened in that championship game, he was still a respectable kicker from a statistical standpoint.After Anderson�s departure from the team there were seven different kickers (including Doug Brien who replaced Anderson in the 2002 season for six games before Minnesota called back Anderson). Five of them had a success rate of at least 80 percent. It�s fair to say that an 80 percent field goal success rate is quite respectable, at least in my eyes. Since we�re on the topic of botched field goals, let�s get Blair Walsh out of the way, shall we?A classic playoff matchup against the Seattle Seahawks and a field goal was all that was needed for the Vikings to advance to the next round. Oh, did I mention it was a 27-yard field goal? No? Well, it was. Walsh did the same thing Anderson did, wide left. Walsh, who had an amazing sophomore and junior season at the University of Georgia, where he hit a near 90 percent both years showed inconsistency when he had a lackluster freshman and senior season. He showed the same type of behavior with the Vikings, except it was a little backwards. He had an outstanding rookie season, he kicked 35 of 38 field goals, while going 10 of 10 from beyond 50 yards. At that time it seemed like Walsh was the perfect replacement for veteran kicker Ryan Longwell. During his second year it seemed like Walsh would be the guy, he kicked 26 of 30 field goals (86.7%). His third season is where he started to show his inconsistencies, he kicked 26 of 35 (74%). He bounced back in his fourth year, but then had another rough season the following year. In his five seasons with Minnesota he had a field goal percentage of 84.2, where he kicked 133 of 158.Honestly, Longwell was probably the most consistent kicker the Vikings have had since 1998. Anytime he would go out and kick I had complete confidence in him to make that kick. It was the same way I felt about Walsh when he was first in the league. The difference between the two is Longwell had consistency and Walsh didn�t. Although Longwell played with Green Bay for nine seasons and is a member of the Packer Hall of Fame, he still came to Minnesota and kicked ass for six seasons. In his 96 games, he hit 135 of 154 field goals (86%). Unlike Anderson and Walsh, Longwell never really had that big time blown missed kick. Once Walsh became a bust and just crushed whatever hopes the Vikings had to continue in the playoffs, his struggles continued into the following season. That�s when Walsh was cut and good ole Kai Forbath took his spot. I got to say, Forbath was a trusty kicker, was he not? In 2016, in the seven games he played for the Vikings he hit 15 of 15 field goals. Despite his success with field goals, he managed to miss three extra points, which resulted in 78.6 percent. In the 23 games that Forbath participated in for Minnesota, he only missed six field goals. He went 47 of 53 with field goals and 45 of 53 with extra points. Let�s not forget about Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen. He played one season with Minnesota back in 2004. According to Athlon Sports, he is the second greatest kicker in Super Bowl era history. He nailed 18 of 22 field goals (81.8%). The two outliers who performed under 80 percent were Aaron Elling and Paul Edinger. Elling played 23 games with the the Vikings from 2003-2004, he only had a field goal percentage of 72 percent, he hit 18 of 25. Edinger played one season in 2005 and kicked 25 of 34 field goals (73.5%). He�s known for his 56-yard game winning field goal against the Packers (someone actually hit a clutch kick). The reason Vikings fans may be so critical of kickers is because we are used to having successful kickers rather than bad ones and when one does miss a big field goal we are even more disappointed. We�re not even mad, just disappointed. Like a parent scolding their kid. Ease up on Daniel Carlson, he�ll come around鈥?I hope. Many facets of the game of football were on display tonight.For the majority of the game www.vikingscheapshops.com , defense was not one of them.Under a picture-perfect California sky, the Minnesota Vikings kicked off the NFL�s Week Four schedule Thursday night by taking on the Los Angeles Rams .The Rams won the toss and deferred, bringing Kirk Cousins and the Vikings offense onto the field to start the game.Cousins� passing offense moved the ball down the field, and Dalvin Cook�s running was hot and cold.On third-and-ten from the Rams sixteen, Cousins hit Vikings newcomer Aldrick Robinson on a pretty pass in the end zone.Fellow Vikings newcomer Dan Bailey banged the extra point through, to make the score 7-0 Vikings.The drive went 13 plays for 75 yards and took 7:05 off the clock.The Rams, wearing their classic blue-and-yellow jerseys went on their own 12-play, 75-yard drive before quarterback Jared Goff hit running back Todd Gurley on a quick-hit pass to even the score at 7.The offense seemed to be picking on Anthony Barr just a bit, and Gurley blew past Barr on the touchdown.The Vikings took over, and Cousins once again drove the Vikings down the field, including a couple of very nice third-and-fourth-down conversions.Dan Bailey came in for the 37 yards try.For a few fleeting milliseconds, it seemed like the kick was going鈥?you guessed it, wide right.The familiar *BONG* of the uprights sounded, and the ball鈥?went鈥?THROUGH!!!!!ZOMGWEHAVEAKICKERAGAIN!!! 10-7 Vikings.The Rams struck quickly on the next drive - against Anthony Barr yet again - with Jared Goff hitting wide receiver Cooper Kupp in stride for a 70-yard catch-and-run touchdown, giving the Rams their first lead of the game at 14-10.It probably wasn�t entirely Barr�s fault, as replays showed Mac Alexander was initially covering Kupp.Cousins and the Vikings offense didn�t flinch one bit.Three plays, seventy five yards, 1:22 off the clock.Bang.Bang.Bang.Passes of 34, 24, and finally a 17-yard touchdown, again to Aldrick Robinson, putting the Vikings on top 17-14.Apparently both coaching staffs had reached the end of their playbooks, as both teams exchanged three-and-outs.Then, the Rams stormed back down the field on a four play, 71-yard drive which culminated with Goff hitting Cooper Kupp yet again, to put the Rams back on top 21-17.The drive was marked by poor play and penalties in the defensive backfield.Momentum, body language, everything was pointing at the Rams at this point.The Vikings went five yards on four plays before punting.Then, Xavier Rhodes held his man, kicked the penalty flag, and Jared Goff then hit Brandin Cooks in stride for a 47 yard touchdown, making the score 28-17 Los Angeles.The Vikings abysmal clock management once again reared its ugly head, with the team wasting twenty seconds before bringing in Dan Bailey, who booted the ball through the uprights once again, bringing the Vikings to within eight.At halftime, the score stood at 28-20 Rams.To begin the second half, Vikings Defensive End Danielle Hunter made two nice plays and the Rams were forced to punt.Rams Head Coach Sean McVay reached into his bag of tricks to attempt a fake punt Minnesota Vikings T-Shirt , which the Vikings covered well, forcing the turnover on downs.The Vikings were once again forced to punt.The Rams then benefitted from an absolutely awful non-call on a block in the back by guard Rodger Saffold, which allowed Todd Gurley to scamper 57 yards.That brought the Rams into field goal range, and Sam Ficken booted it through making the score 31-20.The Vikings took over with 5:21 left in the third quarter.Kirk Cousins hit Stefon Diggs on a couple of nice plays, then nailed Adam Thielen for a 45 yard score.The Vikings lined up for two, where Cousins then hit Latavius Murray in the flat for the two-point conversion, bringing the Vikings to within three at 31-28.The Rams would answer back yet again, as Jared Goff hit Robert Woods down the seam for a 31-yard touchdown over (it hurts to even say, at this point) Anthony Barr, making the score 38-28.After a Vikings punt, the Rams ran over five and a half minutes off the clock.The Vikings defense held, and forced a field goal attempt by Sam Fickens from 28.Fickens missed, and the score held at 38-28.The Vikings then went on nine play, 58-yard drive which ended with a Dan Bailey 40-yard field goal, bringing them within a touchdown of the Rams, at 38-31.With just over two minutes remaining, the Vikings got the ball back with a chance to tie, but Kirk Cousins was stripped of the ball by Rams Defensive End John Franklin-Meyers, and the Rams recovered, effectively ending the game.Quarterback Kirk Cousins was 36/50 for 422 yards and 3 touchdowns.He was sacked four times, for 30 yards.He also led the team in rushing, carrying four times for 28 yards.Dalvin Cook rushed ten times for 20 yards, and Latavius Murray and Roc Thomas ran a combined three times for six yards. The Vikings receivers stat lines were as follows:Stefon Diggs 11/123, Adam Thielen 8/135/1, Kyle Rudolph 5/57, Laquon Treadwell 4/47, Aldrick Robinson 2/33/2Defensively, the Vikings stats would be laughable, if it didn�t hurt so much.Danielle Hunter grabbed the only sack of the night, the team forced no turnovers, and gave up 556 yards of total offense.If there is a silver lining, the team held the Rams to just 1-of-6 on third-down.The problem is that the Rams had twelve drives, which means six times, they never had to worry about a third down conversion.With the loss, the Vikings fall to 1-2-1 on the season.Up next is another road game, this time against the World Champion Philadelphia Eagles.Thank you to everyone for hanging around the game threads and also thanks to those of you who found your Vikings coverage right here on the Daily Norseman.