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Payton: “At some point we need to be able to kick a field goal.”
— Nick Underhill (@nick_underhill) October 3, 2021
The New Orleans Saints a problem kicking field goals. Sean Payton knows it. Fans know it. Aldrick Rosas himself has to be hyper-aware of it. The veteran signed to hold the post until Wil Lutz can return from core muscle surgery hit a rough patch last week with two missed field goals, followed by another miss on Sunday against the Giants.
That’s three unsuccessful field goal tries in two weeks, from ranges of 36, 52, and 58 yards. Kicking from 50-plus is hardly a sure thing but he’s got to go out there and do his job like everyone else. Instead he’s gotten worse as his time in New Orleans has drawn on. The Saints passed on a
Payton admitted as much after the Giants loss, but he shouldn’t be pointing fingers anywhere but at himself. We’ve known for a week that Rosas was a liability. Warning signs have persisted for longer than that — it’s no accident that Payton only chose to attempt a single field goal through the first two games, not trusting Rosas to execute what’s asked of him. He also missed an easy extra-point attempt in his lone preseason game with the Saints and looked shaky on a 52-yarder.
The Saints have had opportunities to upgrade, but instead they’ve been complacent. They haven’t so much as brought a free agent in for a workout since the Aug. 19 tryouts that introduced them to Rosas (along with rookies Alex Kessman and Dominik Eberle). There was a lot of speculation among fans that the Saints could acquire rookie Jake Verity (like Lutz, another Justin Tucker understudy with the Baltimore Ravens) and they had a chance when he was waived during final roster cuts, but they still sat on their hands.
Maybe Verity or someone else makes the field goal Rosas missed, or at least gives Payton enough confidence to try other kicks instead of settling for punts or gambling on fourth down conversions. Maybe not. But with two losses in their first four games, the Saints can’t be happy with the hole they’ve dug for themselves.
So what can they do about it? Lutz is eligible to return whenever the team doctors give him the green light, having rested on injured reserve for the NFL-required three week minimum. Hopefully he’s all healed up and ready to kick against the Washington Football Team next Sunday, though it shouldn’t shock us if the Saints remain conservative in his recovery and keep him on ice through the bye week. It’s just another storyline to monitor in what’s shaping up to be a very busy week.
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