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In the NFL, last-second field goals can make or break a game or even a season. These slim margins are due to having an elite placekicker on the team who can drive the ball down the center of the uprights.
Week 5 was wrought with bad luck as kickers seemed to completely miss through the entire week, which started on Thursday Night Football.
Those 13 missed field goals have been coupled with an additional 13 missed PAT attempts, bringing the total to 26 muffed kicks throughout Week 5.
Why were NFL kickers missing field goals?
There must have been something in the water as kickers failed to do their job across the league. Thirteen missed PAT attempts have now broken the record set in 2016, which was 12 missed PAT attempts.
Mason Crosby had made 27 field goals before Sunday's game. He missed three clutch kicks on the day and a PAT attempt that would have secured the win for the Green Bay Packers.
Instead, Packers fans had to endure a nail-biting overtime game that would see Crosby miss two game-winners on top of Cincinnati Bengals kicker McPherson also missing a game-winner.
In Monday Night Football, Rodrigo Blankenship added to the total of missed field goals and missed PAT attempts by adding one each. Blankenship was usually clutch but couldn't land a game-winner in the final seconds of the 4th quarter, sending the game into overtime where the Baltimore Ravens would ultimately win.
Tristan Vizcaino, kicker for the Los Angeles Chargers, has now effectively added to the bad string of luck that the team has had with kickers and missing field goals. He missed four PAT attempts this season, adding two on Sunday, even though the Chargers would eventually beat the Cleveland Browns.
On top of one of the worst trick plays ever committed, Houston Texans kicker Kai Fairbairn added even more bad luck when he missed two PAT attempts on back-to-back touchdowns. New England Patriots kicker Nick Folk also had his own PAT missed. That would be three missed PAT attempts from this game alone.
The league enacted a new PAT kick distance back in the 2016 season. Before, kickers would be able to essentially chip shot kicks in from 20 yards away.
Under the new rules, the ball would now be placed on the 25-yard line, adding 13 yards to the try. The 33-yard PAT attempt was meant to add even more competition, and it has surely worked.
More and more PAT attempts are being missed and the league may be suffering as a result. However, more teams have been going for 2 point attempts, which does make for an even more exciting affair.
This season has seen 10 games being won by a last-second field goal. Whatever is happening to the kicking game needs to be rectified immediately so that kickers can continue to be the savior for their respective teams. Week 5 of the NFL season has made it more apparent that a great kicking game is crucial to earn wins.
