NFL Kicker Does the Unthinkable – Fans Cannot Believe Their Eyes
I cannot imagine the pressure an NFL kicker must be under every time he steps out onto the field of play. Not only do you have the pressure of completing the kick for the thousands of screaming fans in the stands but for an NFL kicker, there is more. He will have to face his much larger teammates if he misses.
Still, some kickers relish this pressure and even thrive on it. Some of the biggest names in the kicking game have seen their stock rise and plummet based on the last kick that they attempted. Besides, as the kicker, there is really no place for you to hide. You are kind of out there on an island in the middle of the field. If things go well, you're a hero. If they don't well, you're not exactly a hero anymore.
During yesterday's NFL football game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills, the Jags kicker Matthew Wright had one of those days that kickers like to forget about but for some reason the fans never do.
Let's set the scene for you. The Jags called Wright onto the field to attempt a 42-yard field goal. That's not outlandish by NFL standards and most NFL kickers will make a field goal of that distance. However, in this case, Wright launched the ball only to have it DOINK the uprights. So that kick was no good. But there was a penalty on the play.
The penalty was a false start against Jacksonville so it set the line of scrimmage back five yards. This meant that Wright was now kicking a 47-yard field goal. That attempt sailed wide left. But as luck would have it, a Buffalo Bills player ran into the kicker resulting in another penalty. This moved the ball up five yards and Wright was asked to kick again.
This time with two practice kicks under his belt and the line of scrimmage now adjusted for a 42-yard attempt again, Wright approached the ball and sent it soaring with a resounding thud. The ball flew into the air and then curved wide left of the uprights.
If you like watching people miss field goals you can do that right here.
So Matthew Wright essentially managed to miss three consecutive field goal attempts in a row. As you might imagine, Social Media had a field day with the not so accurate field goal kicker.
Okay, now before you point too many fingers and laugh at Matthew Wright, you'll want to know this. His team won the game. That's right the Jacksonville Jaguars downed Buffalo by a score of 9 to 6 yesterday. So, despite the fact that Jacksonville was a 15.5 point underdog and their kicker missed the same kick three times in a row they were still able to beat the Bills.
That probably won't sit well in the bars of Western New York this week but then again it is November and about time for the Bills to begin their end of the season swoon and flameout.
By the way, Wright, the Jaguars kicker who was signed off the streets and elevated to the starting job in October actually kicked a 50+ yard field goal earlier this year to end the Jags 20 game losing streak.
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