Extra point attempts in the NFL this season are 33 yards, but even though they were backed up to add difficulty to the previously nearly guaranteed point, only 13 kickers have missed the point-after-attempt.
Blair Walsh is among that group, but the bigger concern with the Vikings’ kicker is that he’s already missed a couple of field goals in four games, including a devastating 38-yard attempt in Sunday’s 23-20 loss to the Denver Broncos.
Walsh missed a 43-yard attempt in Week 1 against San Francisco and he missed an extra point against the Lions in Week 2.
Blair Walsh, my God. C'MON. cannot miss field goals in game like this. Soooo frustrating. 3-0 Denver. 2nd QTR.
— Paul Allen (@PAOnTheMic) October 4, 2015
“Of the 12 kicks I’ve had, I made 10 of them,” Walsh said, according to the Pioneer Press. “You’ve got to try to draw on positives like that instead of saying I was off in the preseason so I’m going to be off the rest of the year. It doesn’t work that way.
“This bye’s coming at a nice time for me. Time to regroup and attack the rest of the season and do my job.”
“He needs to make those kicks. It’s disappointing,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said after the game, via 1500 ESPN. Walsh has missed a field goal in six of his last seven games.
Walsh led the NFL with 9 missed field goals in 2014.
Most Missed Field Goals Since Start of 2014
Josh Scobee 10
Blair Walsh 10
Graham Gano 9— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 2, 2015
Walsh might have had an opportunity to redeem himself if Minnesota’s other big issue – a leaky offensive line – hadn’t allowed a seventh sack of Teddy Bridgewater with under a minute to play in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater fumbled, Denver recovered and Walsh never got the chance.
According to the Pioneer Press, Walsh would have felt comfortable attempting a 60-yard field goal in the thin Colorado air.
