STEELERS HAVE WORST KICKER IN THE PLAYOFFS

The bad news for the Steelers is that their kicker, Shaun Suisham was the 34th best field goal kicker in the NFL in the regular season. (Some teams used more than one kicker.)

He made 74.2 % of his kicks.

The good news is that most of the really accurate kickers are on a beach somewhere because their teams didn’t make the playoffs.

Of the 12 playoff teams, only two have kickers who finished in the top 10 in accuracy.

Matt Bryant Atl 27-29 93.1% (first, not counting Matt Scifres of S.D. who was 1-1) ( That 93% is beyond ridiculous, by the way.)

Mike Nugent Cin 33-38 86.8 (9th)

The next highest is Mason Crosby of GB , 24-28 85.1 % and he’s ranked 13th

The rest of the playoff kickers are ranked from 16th to 34th (Shuisam of Pgh).

Detroit, NO, NYG, Den, Balt, and Pgh kickers are in the bottom 10.

Does having a really good FG kicker mean you stink or does relying on your kicker so much mean you’re playing for the FG too much?

Thirty years ago, Suisham’s 74.2% would have made him the second most accurate kicker in the league behind Rafale Septien’s 77%

Date: January 7, 2012

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: STEELERS WORST PLAYOFF KICKER, SUISHAM WORST PLAYOFF KICKER

Comments RSS TrackBack 31 comments

Reply

ISteve Roissy

in January 7th, 2012 @ 15:09

Suisham is a passable field goal kicker on a good team like the Steelers, nothing more. However, he is much better that Skippy Reed was on kickoffs and the resulting kick coverage and field position is noticeable. The Steelers are ranked in the top 10 for overall special teams.
Reply

paulbark

in January 7th, 2012 @ 15:52

There is less emphasis on the kicking game now. Years ago they moved the goal posts to the back of the end zone. Also, a missed field goal that went into (or beyond) the end zone used to be placed at the 20 yard line. Now, it’s at the spot of the kick.

The NFL doesn’t want games turning into a field goal contest. For similar reasons, they’ve enacted rules changes to make it more of an offensive, pass-oriented game.

Reply

John Steigerwald

in January 7th, 2012 @ 20:37

Not true. If you eliminate FGs, there were more points scored in the 40s + 50s than there are now. Jan Stenerud is the only kicker in the Hall of Fame and he is now ranked 106th in FG accuracy. The kickers are too good. The goal posts should be narrowed. Therr are way too many field goals.
Reply

Mike V.

in January 8th, 2012 @ 10:18

The NFL doesn’t want it, but there are quite a few coaches who are more than happy to turn them into FG kicking contests.

The solution may not be to make the goalposts more narrow. The answer is to make a TD worth seven points (97% of all extra points are made so a TD is in reality worth 7 points) and give a team a try from scrimmage from the 3-5 (pick one) to score an additional point. The last I saw, teams are around 35% successful at two point conversions, so there would be a lot of unknown in the play which creates excitement.

Coaches like FGs because, in addition to not having to make difficult decisions, the 2 point conversion keeps the math in line for a lot of the game. Getting 8 points for a TD if you make the extra play throws a lot of the math out the window and would force coaches to go for it more on fourth down because they can’t make the math work.

I would be more in favor of making the TD worth 7 with the extra play than making the goalposts more narrow. The only thing more boring in a football game than a fieldgoal is a missed fieldgoal.

Reply

John Steigerwald

in January 8th, 2012 @ 21:53

I don’t think it has to be that complicated. The kickers are so much better than they were 50 years ago and they’re playing on much better surfaces and in domes. Just make the target smaller.

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IsraelP

in January 7th, 2012 @ 17:13

Are these stats adjusted for distances? (I didn’t think so.)

Reply

John Steigerwald

in January 7th, 2012 @ 19:53

Go to nfl.com and you’ll see it broken down by distances. There’s
not much difference.

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Mark

in January 7th, 2012 @ 18:53

Great point not to forget the special teams, John. Remember, though, that the Atlanta kicker for instance plays all of his home games in a dome, and this year played half his road games indoors (NO, IND, DET, HOU), and even games at CHI and SEA on or before Oct. 2, while on the other hand we all know the home venue and home and road weather is a factor for Steelers kickers all season. No excuses, though, it still comes down to making kicks when they count, and hopefully at least this week, it won’t come nearly close to mattering. Beyond that, getting anywhere in the playoffs this year will require the Steelers to get back to scoring regular touchdowns instead of settling for the 3.
Reply

DormontDirtBag

in January 7th, 2012 @ 19:36

On an unrelated note…….. Is Cincy the most pathetic franchise ever? Houston was ripe for the picking and they lose by 21. Marvin Lewis should be fired but I think he’s the most competent non-player in the organization.

Reply

Mike V.

in January 8th, 2012 @ 12:03

Marvin Lewis is like Bill Cowher in that his era is over. I don’t think Cowher will ever coach again because he probably knows the game is different now. The Bengals ownership keeps Lewis because THEY don’t know the game has passed him by.

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slrpea

in January 8th, 2012 @ 22:50

San Francisco is a very cowher-like team. They did pretty well.

Reply

Ken

in January 8th, 2012 @ 14:22

I think they made a decent leap forward this season. They won more games this season then they’ve sometimes won in three.

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VinceL

in January 7th, 2012 @ 23:53

Narrow the goal posts and abolish the PAT kick. Football’s version of the intentional walk.
Reply

Vermonter

in January 8th, 2012 @ 09:27

Footballoutsiders.com does a good job of really digging into matchups. They consider the special teams to be pretty much of a wash, with hte Broncos and Steelers doing the same things well and the same things poorly.

Here’s the big advantage for the Steelers. sDawkins is by far the best, effective DB this year, as teams stay away from Bailey. The Broncos have been burt badly by passes down the middle. If Roethlisberger is given time, the deep seam pattern should be the winner.

BTW, they also consider Redman and Mendenhall almost identical in terms of production this year.
Reply

dannyboy

in January 8th, 2012 @ 11:51

John,

By how much should the posts be narrowed?

I’m thinking at least a yard and half each on both sides.

And to the purists out there who hate any change, a couple earlier posts show adjustments have already been made to the goal posts.

Reply

John Steigerwald

in January 8th, 2012 @ 21:52

My first choice would be to eliminate them altogether. How about 6 feet?

Reply

Ochotexto

in January 8th, 2012 @ 12:18

Astute point JS. If it comes down to a FG attempt the Steelers are in trouble. But I think Tomlin knows that. He has shown little faith in Suisham during certain games this year. I’d leave it up to Ben if possible in a close game.
Reply

Tony D

in January 8th, 2012 @ 14:59

The Steelers never had a great kicker during their 70′s run. Heck, they never had a great special teams unit, period.

Reply

Ken

in January 8th, 2012 @ 22:26

Roy Gerela was for a time one of the best kickers in the league.

Reply

John Steigerwald

in January 9th, 2012 @ 00:10

Correct.

Reply

Bobzilla

in January 9th, 2012 @ 13:16

Gerela was one of the best kickers in the league? Yep, he was so good, he almost got Jack Lambert kicked out of Super Bowl 10 for rushing to his defense.

Reply

John Steigerwald

in January 9th, 2012 @ 14:22

He had the highest FG % in the league in 1975…..82%.

Reply

NDHOOPS

in January 8th, 2012 @ 15:05

Another negative for Steelers. If they get by Denver they will lose again to NE in the playoffs. Too many injuries.
Reply

Matt

in January 8th, 2012 @ 18:19

Break his leg so they have to try to score tds. Two nice drives two fgs, no momentum. Better Luck next year.
Reply

DormontDirtBag

in January 8th, 2012 @ 20:24

Maybe, but he’s still better than our defense.
Reply

Dan

in January 8th, 2012 @ 20:44

How horrible is it that the kicker was the least of their problems today? Awful, embarrassing loss.
Reply

Ken

in January 8th, 2012 @ 22:28

It’s pretty incredible how much talk there’s been tonight about the Steelers not trying a 66-yarder FG at the end of regulation.

The odds were greater that the kick would have been blocked and returned, rather than Suisham making an NFL-record kick. Going to OT was the right move.

Roethlisberger’s clock management at the end of regulation was incredibly poor.
Reply

slrpea

in January 8th, 2012 @ 22:53

How about making field goals worth 2 points and making 2 point conversions worth 3 points.

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John Steigerwald

in January 9th, 2012 @ 00:09

Again, why make it so complicated. The kickers have become too good at hitting the target, make the target harder to hit.

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slrpea

in January 10th, 2012 @ 11:01

It would encourage less attempts at hitting the target.

Reply

John Steigerwald

in January 10th, 2012 @ 12:45

Exactly. That’s the idea.

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