Importance of Kickers

Taking a gander at Kicker stats, I noticed another interesting figure. Of all kickers with 80%+ FG% that had 30 or more attempts, here is what I found:
1- Feely, 32-40, 80%, 9-6-1
2- Akers, 30-34, 88.2%, 12-4
3- Carney 31-35, 88.5%, 9-7
4- M. Gramatica 32-39, 82%, 12-4
5- Longwell 28-34, 82.3%, 12-4
6- Vinatieri, 27-30, 90%, 9-7
7- Nedney, 25-31, 80.6% 11-5
8- Bryant, 26-32, 81.2%, 10-6

9- Jeff Reed* 14-15, 93.3% 4-1 (would average to 13 wins)

*- Jeff Reed was thrown in because in the 5 games he played, the Steelers went 4-1 in those games.

Did you notice that not one team had even a .500 record...they are a minimum of 9 wins. Averaging Jeff Reed's figures to include the steelers at 13 wins, this group averaged 10.78 wins last year, (and one tie). What team doesn't make the playoffs with 10 wins?

[Green-Is-Good]

Feely is inconsistent. Sometimes, the numbers lie.

[IowaSkinsFan]

#2 on the list, David Akers. He was cut by Norv Turner after missing a field goal. Norv always did have a good eye for kickers, didn't he?

[Seebs]

He had a good eye for lot of things, but not for playoffs...

Originally posted by Green is Good
Feely is inconsistent. Sometimes, the numbers lie.

Feely was 11-13 from 40-49 yards, that's the measure of a good kicker.
He did miss 2 from 0-29 yards, but I think one was blocked.

Point is, he's not inconsistant. Anyone with 80%+ is not inconsistant. (unless you say he misses some which they all do). If you ask the players, Feely is highly regarded. Especially with his numerous game winning kicks.

Originally posted by robert11273
#2 on the list, David Akers. He was cut by Norv Turner after missing a field goal. Norv always did have a good eye for kickers, didn't he?

Norv had a quick trigger for players he didn't think wouldn't pan, but no trigger at all for those he liked.

I hope that's a joke...who did he sign that made him have a good eye for kickers? (akers doesn't count since he cut him...if anything that woud mean he has a poor eye.)

[Green-Is-Good]

Wasn't Joe Nedney cut by Norv?

[Skins57]

Norv Turner..can we just not bring that name up again

[Seebs]

Do you prefer "Deion Sanders"?

[Green-Is-Good]

point is, the kicker is damn important. May not seem like it, but he's the most underrated player in the game.
I haven't looked, but I bet if we were to go back to kickers stats in the past years, you'd find that the kickers with over 30 attempts and hit 80+% had teams that were above .500.

[dj_stouty]

Originally posted by jsarno
point is, the kicker is damn important. May not seem like it, but he's the most underrated player in the game.
I haven't looked, but I bet if we were to go back to kickers stats in the past years, you'd find that the kickers with over 30 attempts and hit 80+% had teams that were above .500.

Good post JSarno...

Kickers are the laughing stock of all "real" NFL players, but in all reality, they are the difference in a team making the playoffs or not.

Case in point was two seasons ago, when we went 8-8, yet we lost at least 2 or 3 games due to poor kicking late in the 4th quarter. Its hard to believe that we were one good kicker away from a 10 or 11 win season that year.

Originally posted by dj_stouty
Good post JSarno...

Kickers are the laughing stock of all "real" NFL players, but in all reality, they are the difference in a team making the playoffs or not.

Case in point was two seasons ago, when we went 8-8, yet we lost at least 2 or 3 games due to poor kicking late in the 4th quarter. Its hard to believe that we were one good kicker away from a 10 or 11 win season that year.

YUP

This should be more evident with Redskins fans than just about any team. We have had pure shit for kickers and we've lost MANY games due to this.
I'm glad we wised up and got Hall this year. Now that he's out of that hurricaine of a stadium we call the meadowlands, he should sky rocket in performance.

[Green-Is-Good]

We have also had problems with Snappers and Holders. It's not just the kicking. You need, especially on long-range kicks, for everything to be perfect.

I don't recall our snappers / holders being anything poor. I do recall Cortez shanking 29 yarders though on perfect snaps / holds.