TERPSTRA: Missed field goals make me sad

Adam Vinatieri’s gray hairs probably say more about his profession than his age.

He’s geriatric in football years – thriving in young man’s league with an incredible rate of accuracy.

Vinatieri – the longtime kicker for the Indianapolis Colts – will turn 46 years old while this 2018 NFL regular season is starting to wind down and playoff talk heats up. He’s able to pad up for two reasons – he still gets the job done and he’s a kicker.

No 46 year-old man is going to take on a lead block to stop a blitzing 245-pound, 23 year-old linebacker in his prime and expect to maintain all his facilities and keep them in working order. Not in this league. Not on this planet. And not without somebody getting seriously hurt at some point if that endeavor is entertained on a consistent basis.

The average age in the NFL hovers around 26 years old. It’s hard to keep a job in the NFL where turnover rates are high and competition is fierce. It makes more sense for owners and general managers to stack a roster with hungry, underpaid talent than pricey middle-of-the-road veterans.

That’s the stark reality of game that can be as violent as any out there.

So it makes sense for the kickers – who rarely get in scrums or encounter much physical contact in games – can last a lot longer in the league than other players.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy to maintain longevity.

Soon and maybe this weekend – no one will be able to claim they have made more field goals than Vinatieri – a South Dakota native that also played for the New England Patriots in his storied career.

Remember the “tuck-rule” playoff game in 2001 between the Raiders and Patriots in Foxboro? Vinatieri made that winning kick in a blizzard to propel Bill Belichick and Tom Brady to their first Super Bowl. Did I mention that it was also very windy that game?

Vinatieri responds to pressure well.

A lot do not.

Vinatieri is three field goals away from tying the all-time record for made field goals – set by Hall of Famer Morten Andersen in 2007. I could list all Vinatieri’s other records here but I think you get my point – Canton, Ohio and the NFL Hall of Fame is just waiting for the call to build his bronze bust. He also shows no signs of slowing down. Could he play until 50?

Why not?

Vinatieri hits at a career clip of field goals made at almost 85 percent. This is unheard of and absolutely remarkable given the league average and his ability to sustain that for what is now Vinatieri’s 23rd season in the league. He’s also its oldest player on a roster in case you wondered.

But what is also fascinating is how well field goal kickers have become at making field goals. I’m not getting into extra points, because that could easily be a whole other column just by itself.

The overall rate of success for kickers in the league peaked in 2013 at almost 87 percent. In 1986 that rate was just under 69 percent. It climbed to 80 percent 10 years later and has never dipped below that average starting in 2004.

The reasons for so much success? There’s a lot and I’m not going down that road other than to say athletes are relatively stronger, smarter and have a lot more tools for success at their disposal than say 30 years ago.

The bottom line is this – with parity seemingly at an all-time high in the NFL and so many teams able to consider themselves Super Bowl contenders – the need to win close games is as important as ever.

So last week was an absolute disaster for kickers. We’ll just say a few pink slips were handed out this past Monday.

Kickers missed 19 field goals on Sunday – two shy of the record for misses on a Sunday in this whole century (past 18 years).

None was more glaring than the Minnesota Vikings rookie kicker Daniel Carlson – who missed a game-winning field goal from 35 yards in overtime of his team’s hyped game versus the Green Bay Packers. All told he missed three field goals on the day in the mega-matchup between NFC North rivals.

He’s currently unemployed after getting cut by the team.

He’s not the only casualty of the carnage created by missed kicks.

The Cleveland Browns – yes, those Browns – continued its record-breaking futility and its fan’s misery by losing a game on Sunday they had no business losing.

The backlash was swift and quick and came down hard on a team that has become somewhat of running joke.

The response to that criticism resulted in the Browns also cutting their kicker after he missed two field goals – one a game-tying miss and the other a potential game-winning kick. He also missed two extra points.

He’s now without a job.

My focus is on the Vikings. The Vikings should be in good hands because they picked up ex-Cowboy Dan Bailey off the scrap heap to replace Carlson. For some odd reason Bailey was let go by the Cowboys in the preseason. Bailey is the all-time Cowboys leader in made field goals and is currently the second-most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history. He’s made just over 88 percent of his kicks over a seven-year span.

The reason I focus on the Vikings is because they have a very good team and could well play in the Super Bowl this year. They came up just one game short last season. So there’s little margin for error concerning a run deep into the postseason.

But there’s a track record of missed kicks that have undoubtedly pestered a fan base that is clamoring for a championship. Let’s just say they’ve been down this road before.

It’s not even been three years since Blair Walsh’s missed 27-yard chip shot that hooked left and probably would have won the game in a wildcard playoff tilt versus the Seattle Seahawks in 2016 with just 20-some ticks left on the clock. The game was one of the coldest in modern NFL history and there was no warm, fuzzy feelings after this one for Minnesota.

Let’s flashback to the 1998 NFC Championship Game, which was played on January 17, 1999 and featured the Vikings and the Atlanta Falcons or as they were called back then – “The Dirty Birds.”

The Vikings – sporting the highest scoring offense in NFL history at that time – were the favorites to capture their first Super Bowl championship. The Vikings sported All-Pro kicker Gary Anderson – who didn’t miss a field goal all season (35-35). That was until Anderson stepped into a potential game-winner from 39 yards out that just sailed past the left upright with roughly a little over two minutes left in the contest. The miss would come back to haunt the Vikings, which failed to go up by two scores and left a window of opportunity for the Falcons to tie the game. That they did and advanced to the Super Bowl with an overtime victory and left a stunned Metrodome crowd in its wake.

Vikings fans, I feel your pain.

Granted, there have been other plays that can be pinpointed to as pivotal factors in why the Vikings have failed to win a Super Bowl. Anderson’s miss ranks near the top of the list.

The Vikings have been to a remarkable tally of four Super Bowls – losing every one of them. The only thing that separates themselves and the Buffalo Bills – also losers of four Super Bowls – is that they didn’t lose them consecutively.

Why do I empathize with the Vikings futile effort in bringing back a Super Bowl Championship to the Twin Cities?

I’m a Kansas City Chiefs fans.

I can’t think of many more ridiculed and laughed at pro football franchises other than my Chiefs. Yes, there’s the Browns and the Detroit Lions. But when it comes to not living up to expectations in the playoffs, there’s few that can match the gut-wrenching heartache produced by my Chiefs.

Sidenote, the Browns have won four NFL Championships before there was a Super Bowl.

Sure, the Chiefs have won a Super Bowl – against, you guessed it, the Vikings, in Super Bowl III.

But according to my research, the Vikings are 20-29 in playoff games. The Chiefs are 9-18 and I can recall just four of those playoff wins coming in the last 25 years.

Disclaimer.

Jilted, misguided or rabid NFL fans are much like that sasquatch beef jerky character in that commercial – totally unpredictable and prone to outbursts. Trust me, been there – done that.

Google field goal kicker Lin Elliott, Chiefs vs. Colts playoff game, if you need any further explanation as to why I sometimes shiver at night in bed dreaming of Super Bowl celebrations.

Now this most recent missed field goal resulted in a tie between the Packers and Vikings.

Which in my book – and I think I’m in the majority on this one – is kind of like climbing up a mountain only to be told to climb back down because the peak you are trying to reach is closed for general up keep. So basically you did all that work for nothing, right?

The outcome was a letdown for all involved.

Both sides weren’t happy after the game. I won’t talk about any perceived questionable calls in the game, because there’s only so much newsprint allowable for this column to be run and I’ve already gone a little long. But I will say this – many people made mistakes in that game and some did not wear the colors purple or green.

I do know this, it’s going to be a helluva rematch at U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis in late November. That’s a night game, by the way.

My point is this.

The Vikings kicker wasn’t the only one that pulled a boneheaded mistake or succumbed to pressure and wasn’t able to perform at an acceptable level on Sunday. I’m sure you could say the same thing about a lot of players on every single one of the 32 teams in the league during the second week of play.

But I understand how one player can ruin it for a fan and their respective team.

Kickers are easy targets.

Try to remember that the next time you see one point his head to the ground in frustration and sit all alone by himself on the sideline.

You win some, you lose some.

It’s a tough business and not an easy game.

Like life, a kick that sails through the upright could just have easily hit a crossbar or thrown off course by a westerly wind.

Mother Nature is fickle like that.

There are no guarantees.