theNose76 Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 Why don't we look into picking up Christie again for next season. He had a solid season with the giants and no one knows the buffalo winds better then him. As far as kickoffs go, I know he was a problem. Maybe give moorman a try and work with him all offseason? 193273[/snapback] Yes he was HORRIBLE on kickoffs all year. I watched from the upper deck as he got outkicked nearly every game by the other team's kicker - his kicks were low and to a side usually, and the farthest theyd go would be the 5; while the other teams kicker (exemplified this weekend by Reed) would just moonshot the ball. I still have no idea how he was regarded as a guy with a strong leg when he was signed - I've seen no such thing. Not sure about Christie, from what I remember he left on a sour note a few years ago, unless it was just a money issue then Id be all for him coming back. He was great here, was disappointed to see him go and none of the guys weve had since have been close to as good (but Graham is now).
jester43 Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 agree...the graham situation is tough though...because he flat-out SUCKED when he was here!
USMCBillsFan Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 miss 28 yarders during 30 point blowouts, not when our playoff lives are on the line...YOU CANNOT MISS THAT KICK......EVER 193007[/snapback] I was disgusted by that. So what did I do? This afternoon I went to the field on base and had a friend hold a football. I kicked 7 out of 10 from 40 yards. Yes, it was just me and him and not 80,000 watching and a defense bearing down but hell, I'm just a Marine who played qb and safety in high school. Other than a few years of soccer I've never kicked. So that should tell you how pathetic Lindell is. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I'm 35.....
jester43 Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 please contact tom donohoe at your earliest convenience
WNY Football Fan Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 Here's the rundown: 1-19 yards: Lindell 0/0, opponents 2/2 winner-opponents (but Lindell is career perfect for XP's) 20-29 yards: Lindell 13/14, opponents 11/12. winner-Lindell 30-39 yards: Lindell 10/11, opponents 8/9. winner-Lindell 40-49: Lindell 1/3, opponents 6/7 winner-opponents 50+: Lindell 0/0, opponents 0/2. winner-Bills. Pittsburgh had field goals of 21,22, 31,33, and 37. They played conservative and had nothing to lose. Imagine if they actually tried to bang a TD out on those FIVE 4th downs around the 20 yard line? We should have freaking gone for the 4th down AND ONE YARD and pounded out a TD, won this game by two. Did we think based on the first half we were gonna shut the Steelers down? We needed BIG POINTS. THAT would have been a momentum swing. A nail in the coffin. Atrip to the playoffs. Lindell is better than the majority of kickers in the NFL. His hot streak this year of 20-22 or whatever may have come inside inside the 40-but damn- it certainly coincided with our win streak too. I liked the strategy of Moorman pinning inside their 10 and our D getting the O the ball back. Lindell like the last kid in up in a little league game that strikes out and the team says, "YOU lose the game for us". That's crap.
Fake-Fat Sunny Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 My sense is that there is much more to the placekicking game than FG% and even +40 yard FG%. This is my sense of Lindell: under 40 yard FG%- One of the best in the league in terms of percentages and this is reflcted in a flawless PAT performance where messing up here is a true ticket out. His good record at this distance makes his miss of a chip shot Sunday even more vexing. over 40 yard FG%- he stinks here even to the extent that MM seems to have lost confidence in this part of his game. Lindell has gone incredibl long without the game resting on his toe by everyone'sexperience including his own. Part of this is that we have blown out the opponent or been blown out such that the game was never a 3 pointer in the final ticks. In the vast minority of games like the Jets in NYC it just happened that we never got a chance. Still this is a big issue and Lindell's failure to inspire any rational hope in this part of his game is a big problem. It is ironic that he hit a couple 45+ kicks this year butwe took them off the board by calling TO. Kickoffs- Lindell has been extremely good at this portion of the game. A poster is correct that a stat on drive starts is the true measure of effective kickoffs, but the fact the Bills finished 2nd in the league in covering returns speaks well of Lindell kicking it where his tacklers expected him to and also of hang time with kickoffs. The poster who observed from the upper deck that the opposition outkicked Lindell because they boomed it and he never got it into the endzone needs to consider the fuller kick coverage story which would be better reflected in drive start numbers. A record number for the Bills of those boomers allowed McGee to note how the coverage was setting up and what blocks he had and he ended up in the opposing endzone having never been touched. Meawhile if a high Lindell kicked was caught at the seven on the left hashmark and our tacklers has the time to get downfield and count count on the kick ending up on the left hashmark if they tackled the return guy quickly the opponents would get the bad drive start. I liked how Lindell's kicks seem to vary in location and whether they were hanging kicks or squib kicks and we tackled the opponent for a bad drivestart. Onside kicks- Before the last game at Pitt the one time Lindell was called upon to do this job he did it masterfully. He not only got it the appropriate 10 yards with the proper speed and pace to allow him to recover the kick himself before our team had even blocked an opponent because the ball must travel 10 yards before anyone is hit. Lindell handled this well. However, i think the key that determines his fate is that he has $600K left on his contract as bonus for 2 more years plus annual salaries which will push him up near the million mark in cap hits each year. Even by delaying his cut until the cap casualty date of June 1st this is a lot of deadspace for a cut kicker and it should be added to any new kickers contract. Before the miss Sunday, I did not see the Bills braintrust taking a string kicker like Nugebt in the second round and giving him his big 2ns round slotted contract with the addition of the deadspace. However, after the miss Sunday cutting Lindell is much more possible. My guess is that the Bills will likely fill one of their other needs with their 2nd and hope that Nugent slips to the 3rd round where we he will have a lower cap hit in that slot. If Nugent is gone, I think we sign a UDFA and Lindell sees some heavy pressure for the job next year.
DC Tom Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 50+: Lindell 0/0, opponents 0/2. winner-Bills. 193326[/snapback] Lindell's better than the Bills' opponents outside the 50 because he never tried a FG that long???? That's some seriously mangled logic...
jester43 Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 bottom line: in the nfl you need a guy who is money from 40-49...if you don't have that guy you cut him...UNLESS you can't readily and easily replace him with somone better....that is now donohoe's problem....hopefully he can find a better guy!!
cåblelady Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 That speaks volumes, as does the fact that his longest FG of the season was a paltry 43 yards. 193237[/snapback] Didn't he have a 50-something yarder that he made, but we called TO before the kick so it didn't count ?
WNY Football Fan Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 Lindell's better than the Bills' opponents outside the 50 because he never tried a FG that long???? That's some seriously mangled logic... 193362[/snapback] It says winner BILLS not Lindell. The Bills were winners by NOT KICKING. Their oppenents strategy netted them 0 for 2. That IS logic.
soljc Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 His longest FG of the year was 43 yards. 193003[/snapback] Enough said. Yet another crummy hire.
Greg de'Ville Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 He only missed one pressure kick this season (coincidentally, it was the only one he attempted) because MM didn't have the confidence in him to even give him a shot at it. His kickoffs this past Sunday were HORRIBLE, as they have been much of his career. The coverage team and excellent tackling (for the most part) masked his ineffectiveness (especially lack of hangtime/distance). You can quote stats all day long. Lies, damn lies, and statistics. The phrase exists for a reason. 193009[/snapback] Couldn't have said it better, AD. That puke has to go.
Josh Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 Originally posted by cåblelady: Didn't he have a 50-something yarder that he made, but we called TO before the kick so it didn't count ? He hit a 48 yarder that was called back. I was shocked when he hit it through. . .regardless, I am tired of being nervous when our kicker takes the field.
KurtGodel77 Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 Lies, damn lies, and statistics. The phrase exists for a reason. 193009[/snapback] Yeah, and that reason is ignorance. Statistics is just another form of communication. As with any form of communication, statistics can be used to shed light on the truth, or to distort the truth. As well to say that all words are lies, just because people have used words to lie.
Ozymandius Posted January 5, 2005 Posted January 5, 2005 bottom line... it's the Superbowl, there's a 42 (not even 47) yard field goal that needs to be made to win the game... do you trust Lindell to make it? no you don't. he will choke. 90% of the fans believe this. the entire coaching staff believes this. his teammates believe this. even he believes this. he will choke. you HAVE to cut Lindell. I honestly, all kidding aside, would rather have Moorman try crucial field goals than Lindell. Please draft Nugent if available. Please.
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