Bills Unforgettable loses and the kicker connection

[Flip Johnson]

1 hour ago, Returntoglory said:

I find it rather astounding that four of the most heartbreaking losses, probably the top four over the years for our Buffalo Bills, have centered around kickers and/or kickoffs.

Superbowl XXV- Wide Right, Norwood Kick.
Miracle City Miracle- Forward lateral on kickoff.
13 Seconds- Bad Kickoff resulting in tying FG taking game to OT with KC winning.
Bass missed FG- Bass missed kick that would have put us into OT (most likely) against KC.

Are we snakebitten when it comes to kickers?

Do we minimize the value of a good kicker?

 

Norwood: it was always unlikely that he was going to make that kick on grass. The game was lost a hundred times before that kick.
Music City: Squib kick was fine, it was a special teams/officiating debacle.

13 Seconds: Coaching

Bass: needs to make that kick, but the blown opportunities beforehand are what matter more.

[Goin Breakdown]

9 minutes ago, Flip Johnson said:

 

Norwood: it was always unlikely that he was going to make that kick on grass. The game was lost a hundred times before that kick.
Music City: Squib kick was fine, it was a special teams/officiating debacle.

13 Seconds: Coaching

Bass: needs to make that kick, but the blown opportunities beforehand are what matter more.

Very rational. I'd have to agree with this. 

[realtruelove]

12 minutes ago, Flip Johnson said:

 

Norwood: it was always unlikely that he was going to make that kick on grass. The game was lost a hundred times before that kick.
Music City: Squib kick was fine, it was a special teams/officiating debacle.

13 Seconds: Coaching

Bass: needs to make that kick, but the blown opportunities beforehand are what matter more.

Bass should have never kicked against KC.  They should have gone into that situation with one objective.  Win or lose the game on that drive by burning the clock and scoring TD.  When you're on the toilet, you don't fart, you sh*t.

[Returntoglory]

50 minutes ago, Bogie_Klinkhammer said:

This is interesting.  Did you know every Sabres loss was caused by some goalie that missed a puck ?

Right. 

Anything to get your post count up, eh?

[Don Otreply]

24 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

not to me they arent

To each there own, it happened, I acknowledged it, I moved on, Ya can’t undo the past, so why carry that luggage around for ever?

[Dancing Fool]

1 hour ago, Bogie_Klinkhammer said:

This is interesting.  Did you know every Sabres loss was caused by some goalie that missed a puck ?

I can feel Hasek glaring at this post from Czechoslovaki.

[Utah John]

52 minutes ago, Eastport bills said:

The thing Polian did correctly,was replace a mentally devastated kicker immediately. Hopefully Beane and Co realize Bass, as great a kid as he is, may be shot. You cannot allow a kicker to compromise a good team’s accomplishments. It’s demoralizing.

Norwood kicked for the Bills the next year after the wide right miss.

[Drew21PA]

Come on

 

in the grand scheme of things is the kid REALLY THAT BAD?

 

I mean it wouldn’t have even won us the game ?

 

not like Harmon dropping a sure TD with time expiring 

 

I don’t even count bass miss as that bad?

29 minutes ago, realtruelove said:

Bass should have never kicked against KC.  They should have gone into that situation with one objective.  Win or lose the game on that drive by burning the clock and scoring TD.  When you're on the toilet, you don't fart, you sh*t.

Best way to put it

 

i pht it on coaching decision blunder again not bass

[HOUSE]

28 minutes ago, Returntoglory said:

Right. 

Anything to get your post count up, eh?

I feel so exposed now, thanks 

[Matt_In_NH]

There was also a oblong ball in every single loss in the history of the Bills, conincidence?

[ControllerOfPlanetX]

Tom Dempsey choke job that should have ended the Miami streak a year earlier.

[transient]

4 hours ago, KDIGGZ said:

One thing I noticed is that the final 2 teams in the AFC were likely the 2 best kickers in the conference. The Bills have a low end kicker on an otherwise top team. Instead of drafting guys in round 7 that won't make the team, how about we get a top kicker and punter? Unfortunately they are an essential part of the game for better or worse. I'd be ok with getting rid of kicking completely but that's just me. In the meantime, our special teams need to be addressed 

Sam Martin was kicking just fine prior to pulling his hamstring chasing down the blocked FG against the Steelers.

 

And we did recently draft a punter and a kicker... they drafted Bass in the 6th round in 2020, and he was fine until he went off the rails this season, and they drafted Araiza in the 6th round in 2022, which didn't turn out so well.

3 hours ago, Dancing Fool said:

I can feel Hasek glaring at this post from Czechoslovaki.

Soooo... he's glaring at it from sometime before December 31, 1992?

[EasternOHBillsFan]

6 hours ago, Returntoglory said:

I find it rather astounding that four of the most heartbreaking losses, probably the top four over the years for our Buffalo Bills, have centered around kickers and/or kickoffs.

13 Seconds- Bad Kickoff resulting in tying FG taking game to OT with KC winning.

 

The kicker should have been told to SQUIB KICK but he wasn't... not his fault!!!

[zow2]

Eh, the Giants got lucky that Norwood missed.

 

13 seconds was our year. Nice couple plays by KC and a clutch long FG to send it to OT.  Chiefs got lucky and won the coin toss.

 

KC lucky again that Bass missed, but like we’ve all said that game was far from over even if he tied it up. 

[Mikie2times]

7 hours ago, stevestojan said:

13 seconds could have been kicked better sure. But the butter soft defense - especially over the middle - is what cost us, not the kick.  It’s the same reason few, if any, are blaming Bass for this latest loss. Pathetically, we all knew the defense stood zero point zero percent chance of stopping Mahomes from getting into FG range. Bass makes that kick and it just delays the inevitable. And that is embarrassing. We literally need to score with 00:00 on the clock to ensure a win against KC in the playoffs. That’s sad. 

It's funny. So many wide right memes and jokes from colleagues. I'm just thinking, the kick didn't even matter. Literally a 0% chance the Chiefs don't get into FG range if he makes it. They were averaging almost 10 yards a play. 

[LABILLBACKER]

6 hours ago, All_Pro_Bills said:

I'm never going to buy the excuse that Bass "forgot" what he was supposed to do.  It was the absolute only task he needed to perform and his mind suddenly went blank.  If he squibed the kick and they ran it back to the Bills 30 leaving 5 seconds on the clock we'd have been told he was supposed to kick it into the end zone.  The defense blew it. 

As horrible as those 2 defensive plays were, not squibbing around the 5 will forever be the masterclass mistake by McDermott. 

[wettlaufer]

On 1/31/2024 at 4:15 PM, Eastport bills said:

Bill tried to replace Norwood by bringing in the Giants kicker Nittmo,but he lost the competition for the 1991 season.Then he replaced him with Christie for the 92 season.

 

Norwood was perfect in that season's playoffs and then was replaced by Steve Christie.