Blair Walsh lived out every kicker’s worst nightmare Sunday afternoon in Minnesota.
Trailing the Seattle Seahawks by a point in an NFC Wild Card Game, all Walsh and the Vikings needed was a 27-yard field goal to send them through to the divisional round. But the 26-year-old, who’d successfully booted three field goals earlier in the game, sent his fourth attempt wide left, allowing the Seahawks to escape frosty TCF Bank Stadium with a 10-9 victory.
Stephen Gostkowski has never had such a costly miss during his career with the New England Patriots. His closest to it probably was the missed 42-yarder that would have given the Pats a win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2 of the 2012 season.
But upon seeing the replay of Walsh’s shank, the four-time Pro Bowler immediately empathized with his Minnesota counterpart.
“It’s unfortunate,” Gostkowski told reporters Monday at Gillette Stadium. “Personally, I feel really bad for Blair. Professionally, it’s part of the game. It’s something that happens. We’ve all been there. I’ve seen the best of the best miss kicks — miss big kicks, miss short kicks. It happens to everybody. Sometimes, just timing is very unfortunate. I was at least proud of the way he stood up there and took it on his shoulders.
“Like I said, personally, I feel terrible for him. Professionally, it’s what we sign up for. You’ve got to be able to take the good and the bad. He was man enough to do that. And he didn’t succeed on the field, but he handled himself with class after the game, which — at least he can hang his head on that.”
Gostkowski has converted on 87.3 percent of his career field goals and has not missed in the playoffs since 2009. Saturday’s weather forecast calls for freezing rain and snow during the Patriots’ divisional-round matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs, but the 10-year veteran isn’t worried about the impact the conditions could have on the kicking game.
“A lot of the playoff games that I’ve been in have been windy, have been cold, have been rainy,” Gostkowski said. “You never know what you’re going to get this time of year. I mean, I remember last year the first game against the Ravens was blistering cold and super windy, and the room for error when it comes to kicking a field goal or kicking off or punting or snapping, it shrinks the worse the conditions (get).
“But you just have to be ready for the challenge. That’s why we practice all week. That’s why we practice all year. You don’t get scared or shy away from taking advantage of your opportunity when the weather gets bad or the situation gets heightened. You just up the focus and up the concentration and go out there and give it your best shot.”
Thumbnail photo via Brace Hemmelgarn/USA TODAY Sports Images
