Zach Dean
Videos by OutKick
NFL kickers are just about the only people who actually play in every single preseason game, yet you wouldn’t know it by Sunday’s games.
Woof. I think they’re still trying to make a field goal over in Cincinnati. Or Indianapolis. Or Washington.
Hell, we even had a SAFETY rushed into kicking duty out in Arizona.
Let’s dive in.
Evan McPherson misses game-winner, Chris Boswell gives us a doink
Gotta start with that wild Pittsburgh-Cincinnati game, where literally nobody wanted to win.
Minkah Fitzpatrick, who started the day with a pick-six of Joe Burrow, sent the game to overtime with this monster block.
Minkah blocks Bengals kicker Evan McPherson game winning extra point pic.twitter.com/PKdUgVs2LL
— 🇨🇩🇸🇱 (@F1avss) September 11, 2022
That one doesn’t really go on Evan McPherson. This one, though, is tough to watch – although the snap was laughably bad.
EVAN MCPHERSON MISSES IT 😱 pic.twitter.com/IJmnU2CSdr
— Brian Y (@byysports) September 11, 2022
Not to be outdone, Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell gave us an all-time DOINK to keep this gem of a game alive and well.
CHRIS BOSWELL DOINKS THE POTENTIAL GAME WINNER! pic.twitter.com/kw6TUhyo8l
— Ben Brown 🌻 (@BenBrownPL) September 11, 2022
To be fair, Boswell did absolutely RIP a game-winner a few minutes later to win the game.
Chris Boswell for the win. What a game! #HereWeGo pic.twitter.com/uxMKHrVE18
— NFL (@NFL) September 11, 2022
Fans calling for Rodrigo Blankenship’s job after NFL Colts tie
Let’s now head to Indianapolis, where Rodrigo Blankenship woke up this morning to literally everyone calling for his firing on Twitter.
Blankenship missed a pretty standard 42-yard field goal in overtime that ultimately led to a beautiful 20-20 tie between the Colts and Texans.
Side note: how do we feel about Lovie Smith essentially playing for the tie at the end of this puppy? Guy just punted on 4th and 3 from the Indy 49 with 20 seconds left.
Bet Mike McDaniel wouldn’t have done that.
Justin Reid drills PAT, Harrison Butker kicks with one leg
We’re now off to Arizona, where Big Red Andy Reid is rolling out defensive players to do the kicking.
And, by the way, they’re hitting BOMBS.
Justin Reid, Chiefs’ Safety, is having to sub in for their kicker who had to leave with an injury.
He’s said that he played a lot of soccer and it was his favorite sport growing up before he committed to football.. here’s his first NFL kick.. pic.twitter.com/3TOo6kPDRn
— MLS Buzz (@MLS_Buzz) September 11, 2022
Justin Reid was filling for Harrison Butker, who left the game early with an injury but later returned. Reid, by the way, hit a 65-yarder in practice during the preseason, so this cat can GET IT.
Butker eventually returned to the game and drilled a 54-yard field goal on one leg like the legend he is.
Harrison Butker is iron man! Kicks a 54 yard field goal on one leg! 😳 pic.twitter.com/axSukV5Szy
— Brad Henson Productions (@BradHensonPro) September 11, 2022
Cade York may have the strongest leg in the NFL
Speaking of kickers who can kick a ball to the moon, how about Cade York? The rookie down in Cleveland drilled a 58-yard game-winner against Carolina that would’ve been good from 90 yards.
And I’m only half-joking.
Cade York 🤝 Titanic music pic.twitter.com/6N5Ju62JZr
— Tall6uy (@Tall6uy) September 12, 2022
Look at that thing! That’s a 60-yard bomb that nearly puts a hole in the net. Holy cow.
We don’t need any videos of Sunday night’s snoozer, but there were also five field goals between the Cowboys and Bucs.
All in all, it was one hell of a day for NFL kickers … in both directions.
If you’re going to talk about the Bengals misses, you need to mention how the long snapper was injured earlier in the game, leaving them with an inexperienced snapper who obviously messed up twice. Poor reporting Zach.