Tag: kicker

Tyler Bass on support from Bills Mafia: ‘It really made me happy’

Tyler Bass on support from Bills Mafia: ‘It really made me happy’

Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass hasn’t had a year to write home about. It’s been largely inconsistent.

But through it all, Bills fans have still shown their support.

Bass expressed his pleasure with the home crowd after his perfect day in Week 7 when he made both field goal attempts and all four extra points in a 34-10 win over the Tennessee Titans.

It wasn’t just after making a kick that Bass felt the support. It was long before the game even started.

“When I got out there for pregame, man, there was a lot of love,” Bass said. “It was super cool to see. The true fans really love you unconditionally. And that made me really happy. They were there for me and have always been there for me.”

The bounce-back game from Bass came just a few days removed from head coach Sean McDermott saying he was “concerned” with his kicker. Bass’ inconsistencies have led to the Bills recently working out free-agent kickers and even signing one to the practice squad.

Although his longest on the day was only 30 yards, Bass did his job and he now has something to build off of. If Bass continues to kick like he did in Week 7, he won’t have anything to worry about.

The perfect game gave Bass a boost in his kicking stats. He now has made 11 of 14 field goal attempts (78.6%), which ranks 25th in the NFL.

Bass’s full comments can be found in the WGRZ-TV clip below:

2-ex Broncos won their first starts with new teams on Sunday

Russell Wilson won his first start for the Steelers and Brandon McManus kicked a game-winning field goal for the Packers days after signing.

A pair of Denver Broncos players won their first starts with their new clubs on Sunday.

Ex-Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson got the nod for the Pittsburgh Steelers, replacing Justin Fields in the lineup. Wilson went 16-of-29 passing for 264 yards with two touchdown passes and no turnovers. He also rushed for a touchdown and was only sacked once as the Steelers defeated the New York Jets 37-15 at home.

Following that performance, Wilson is probably locked in as the Steelers’ starter going forward. Wilson, 35, was benched by Denver coach Sean Payton with two games remaining last season. The Broncos then cut Wilson in March and he quickly landed in Pittsburgh.

Another ex-Denver player, kicker Brandon McManus, won his first game with the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. After signing with the Packers last Tuesday, McManus kicked a 45-yard game-winning field goal to seal a 24-22 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday.

McManus, 33, played for the Broncos from 2014-2022, helping the team win Super Bowl 50 following the 2015 season. After being cut by Payton last year, McManus spent last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He joined the Washington Commanders this spring but was cut after being accused of sexual assault. After the NFL said there was insufficient evidence to discipline McManus for the allegations, he signed with the Packers.

A third ex-Denver player, quarterback Drew Lock, got garbage time minutes against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday after the New York Giants took out Daniel Jones in the fourth quarter. Lock went 3-of-8 passing for six yards and was sacked once in New York’s 28-3 loss to Philly. Lock also rushed once for 13 yards and fumbled twice.

When the Broncos host the Carolina Panthers in Week 8, they will welcome back former defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, defensive lineman DeShawn Williams and linebacker Josey Jewell.

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Wil Lutz had a perfect response after being booed by Saints fans

Saints fans booed their former kicker during ‘Thursday Night Football.’ Wil Lutz had a perfect response after the game.

Sean Payton wasn’t the only one who faced his former team when the Denver Broncos took on the New Orleans Saints on Thursday night.

Payton’s staff includes 14 coaches/personnel members plus eight players who used to work for the Saints, including kicker Wil Lutz.

Lutz was called into action four times for field goal attempts at the Caesars Superdome and fans in New Orleans welcomed him back to the stadium with loud boos. That didn’t stop Lutz from going a perfect 4-of-4 on FG attempts.

Lutz, 30, played for the Saints from 2016-2022 before being traded to the Broncos ahead of the 2023 season. The decision to boo him was a curious one.

Lutz finished the game perfect on field goal attempts and 3-of-3 on extra point attempts, giving him 15 points in a 33-10 victory.

After the game, Lutz had a perfect response to the booing.

“Ehh, I think we know who was getting booed out the building 🤣,” Lutz tweeted. “All love WhoDatNation 🖤”

Lutz is now 17-of-18 on field goal attempts this season and 12-of-12 on extra point attempts. He has accounted for 63 of Denver’s 145 points in 2024.

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Northwestern likely without starting kicker for game vs. Wisconsin Badgers

Northwestern likely without starting kicker for Saturday vs. Wisconsin Badgers

This is a story to watch as the Wisconsin Badgers (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) take the field against the Northwestern Wildcats (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) in Week 8: Northwestern starting placekicker Jack Olsen is battling an injury and is unlikely to play in Saturday’s game.

Wildcats head coach David Braun clarified Olsen’s injury status when meeting with the media earlier this week:

Related: 10 keys to a Wisconsin Badgers victory over the Northwestern Wildcats

“As of right now, we do not expect Jack [Olsen] to play this week,” Braun said. “It looked like it was going to be anywhere from two to four weeks. We’ll continue to monitor that, but do not expect Jack to play this week.”

The Wildcats were also without Olsen during their 37-10 win over Maryland in Week 7. Saturday’s game against Wisconsin still fits into that ‘two-to-four-week’ timetable that Braun noted for Olsen’s unspecified lower-body injury.

Northwestern punter Luke Akers took over the field goal-kicking duties for the Wildcats against Maryland. He had a fantastic performance: 3/3 on field goals (43, 38 and 38 yards, respectively) and 4/4 on extra points.

Those three field goal attempts were the first of Akers’ five-year career as Northwestern’s primary punter.

It does run in the family for the now versatile specialist — his father David Akers spent 16 years as an NFL placekicker, 12 of them with the Philadelphia Eagles. David’s storied NFL career included six Pro Bowls, two first-team All-Pro seasons and four All-Pro second-team selections.

Luke Akers’ performance is one to watch as the Badgers and Wildcats meet at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT on Saturday. Most games between the two programs turn into a slugfest where points are at a premium. Akers will likely be called upon to replicate his fantastic debut performance as the team’s replacement kicker.

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Ex-Saints kicker outscored his old team by himself with the Broncos

Wil Lutz tallied more points than the New Orleans Saints themselves on Thursday night. The Broncos kicker outscored his old team all by himself:

The New Orleans Saints told their former Pro Bowl kicker Wil Lutz to kick rocks in 2022, and Lutz joined Sean Payton with the Denver Broncos. All eyes were on Payton returning and Drew Brees being inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame.

But the forgotten storyline was Lutz coming back to town to kick the Broncos to victory. Lutz outscored his old team all by himself.

Okay, that’s not technically what happened, but it could have happened. The former New Orleans Saints kicker put four field goals through the goalposts on Thursday evening, meaning he totaled 12 points in his own right for the night.

That’s more points than his former team was able to score all night long. In fact, the Saints had not even scored more than a field goal themselves in ‘TNF’ action until within the final two minutes of the game.

It was a much different story for the Broncos, who have had their fair share of struggles this season that include some ups and downs on offense, but tallied 33 points over that same stretch of time.

Denver scored in every quarter of the game, doing its most damaged in the second quarter with 13 points and the third quarter with 10 points.

Lutz and the Broncos will look to only build upon this win as they face the Carolina Panthers up next on the schedule at Mile High next Sunday. Whether the Saints regret trading him to Denver is anyone’s guess.

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Packers lose patience with Brayden Narveson, make change at kicker again

The Packers said they would be patient with Brayden Narveson. But after six weeks of misses, the Packers made an in-season change at kicker.

A fifth miss from inside 50 yards, all of which missed wide right, marked the end of a six-week experiment with Brayden Narveson as the kicker of the Green Bay Packers.

Narveson’s 44-yard miss in the second half of Sunday’s win over the Arizona Cardinals at Lambeau Field led the Packers — who vowed patience with a rookie kicker — to make a midseason change. Multiple reports say the Packers will sign veteran Brandon McManus ahead of Sunday’s visit from the 5-1 Houston Texans.

Several times over the last two months, coach Matt LaFleur and general manager Brian Gutekunst preached patience with a new kicker. Gutekunst went as far as to admit he has given up on specialists too early during his career as Packers general manager. LaFleur has consistently defended Narveson’s demeanor and practice performance.

But when it mattered, the results weren’t nearly good enough — especially for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.

Instead of hoping Narveson would improve and the misses to the right would get fixed, the Packers spun the kicker carousel again.

Narveson, who was claimed off waivers after final cuts, made 12 of 17 field goals in six games. His 17 attempts ranked second among kickers, but his five misses were an NFL-high. Among qualifying kickers, Narveson’s 70.6 field goal percentage ranked 32nd, second to last and ahead of only Greg Zierlein, who had two misses in the New York Jets’ loss to the Buffalo Bills to end Week 6. All five of Narveson’s misses came from under 50 yards, including a miss from under 40.

Narveson was the sixth of now seven attempts from the Packers to get it right at kicker in the post-Mason Crosby era. Anders Carlson, Jack Podlesny, Greg Joseph, James Turner and Alex Hale all got chances. The Packers went the unconventional route to start the 2024 season, claiming Narveson — an undrafted rookie — off waivers from the Titans after neither Carlson nor Joseph stepped up and won the job during training camp. Hale was kept as the international player on the practice squad.

The experiment failed.

Now, kicking duties will go to McManus, a 10-year NFL veteran who made 30 field goals and went 100 percent on extra points for the Jacksonville Jaguars last season. He is only available because of an on-going lawsuit claiming he committed sexual assault while on a plane with the Jaguars last year, although he hasn’t been charged with a crime and the NFL announced McManus would not be punished under the league’s conduct policy.

McManus has over 300 career field goal attempts. On kicks under 50 yards, McManus has a career field goal percentage of 90.8 — ninth best among kickers with at least 50 such attempts since 2010. Kicking in the altitude in Denver for nine years, McManus attempted a lot of long kicks. But he consistently made the field goals that kickers in the modern NFL are now expected to hit.

Narveson and Carlson missed too many high percentage kicks over the last two years. In McManus, the Packers should have a reliable veteran who can consistently convert extra points and kicks in the 30-49 range.

But McManus is 33 years old and still dealing with a significant off-the-field issue, so it’s fair to wonder if the Packers are going to get the very best version of him right away.

Two years of field goal malfeasance has tested and possibly ruined the Packers patience with kickers. Green Bay has missed an NFL-high 11 field goals during the regular season since the start of 2023, and only one team has missed more extra points than Green Bay’s five. Those numbers don’t even count an extra point miss and a devastating field goal miss from Carlson in the playoffs last season.

Narveson got a six-week trial. The Packers thought he was the answer, but patience wore thin quickly. It’s now on McManus to give the Packers their first reliable kicking option in the post-Crosby era.

Packers not considering kicker change despite another Brayden Narveson miss

The Packers are sticking with Brayden Narveson despite his NFL-leading fifth field goal miss through six weeks.

In the aftermath of another miss from Brayden Narveson, Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur said the team still isn’t ready to make a change.

Asked on Monday if the Packers are considering a change at kicker after six weeks, LaFleur responded: “I wouldn’t say that right now, no.”

Narveson, a rookie, missed his NFL-high fifth field goal during Sunday’s 34-13 win over the Arizona Cardinals. His 44-yard attempt went wide right. A drive later, Narveson hit from 41 yards, and he finished 2-for-3 on field goals and 4-for-4 on extra points.

Entering Monday night’s game, Narveson ranks 33rd out of 33 qualifying kickers in field goal percentage at 70.6. Greg Joseph, who the Packers released to add Narveson after final cuts, ranks 32nd at 72.7 percent.

The misses are adding up. Narveson has missed an NFL-high four kicks between 40 and 49 yards, and he’s one of only three kickers to miss between 30 and 39 yards this season (kickers are 98-for-101 on kicks between 30 and 39 in 2024).

The Packers have rookie kicker Alex Hale available as the team’s International Player Pathway player on the practice squad, and LaFleur said Hale would “potentially” be ready to kick if needed.

The Packers have preached patience at kicker. LaFleur has continually praised Narveson’s work in practice environments, and the team believes in Narveson’s combination of talent and demeanor. But patience can wear thin in a hurry, especially when margins are so thin at the NFL level.

Where is the breaking point?

“We’ll see, again, we’ll take it day by day,” LaFleur said.

The Packers host the AFC South-leading Houston Texans at Lambeau Field on Sunday. LaFleur’s team can’t afford to throwaway points in big matchups against contenders.

Narveson has missed at least one field goal in four of six games, and he had a miss in Tennessee negated by a penalty. Against the Vikings in Week 4, Narveson missed two field goals in the first half as the Packers fell behind 28-0. He also missed a field goal in Brazil in Week 1 and against the Colts in the home opener in Week 2.

NFL hands down opposite verdicts for ex-Broncos Von Miller and Brandon McManus

The NFL will not suspend Brandon McManus after he was accused of sexual assault. Von Miller, meanwhile, has received a four-game suspension.

One day after former Denver Broncos kicker Brandon McManus avoided a possible suspension, ex-Denver pass rusher Von Miller received a suspension.

The NFL investigated an incident that led to a pair of flight attendants suing McManus, accusing him of sexual assault during a Jacksonville Jaguars flight to London in 2023. The league determined that McManus will not be suspended.

“There was insufficient evidence to support a finding that a violation of the personal conduct policy occurred. As always, if new evidence is presented it would be taken into consideration,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said, via Mark Maske of the Washington Post.

McManus remains a free agent.

One day later, the NFL handed down a four-game suspension to Miller for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. That suspension seemingly resulted in response to Miller being accused of assaulting his pregnant girlfriend in November 2023. Miller’s accuser later said there was no assault.

Miller will be eligible to play for the Buffalo Bills again in Week 9.

Miller and McManus were teammates with the Broncos from 2014-2021, helping the team win Super Bowl 50 following the 2015 season.

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Broncos have their first weekly award winner of 2024 season

Broncos kicker Wil Lutz has been named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week following the team’s 26-7 victory over the Bucs in Week 3.

Denver Broncos kicker Wil Lutz has been named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week following the team’s 26-7 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3, the NFL announced Wednesday.

Lutz, 30, went 4-of-4 on field goal attempts and 2-of-2 on extra points attempts in Week 3, accounting for 14 of the team’s points against the Bucs. This marks the fifth weekly award of Lutz’s career and the first time a Broncos player has taken home such an honor this season.

Lutz was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month in November 2023, but his STPOFW award is the first for a Denver kicker since Brandon McManus took home the honors in 2021 (Week 14).

Lutz is the fourth kicker in Broncos history to have won the award, joining McManus (twice), Matt Prater (five times) and Jason Elam (seven times).

Lutz is 39-of-43 on field goal attempts since the Broncos acquired the kicker via trade with the New Orleans Saints last summer.

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Chiefs Dave Toub says Harrison Butker can attempt 68-yard field goals: ‘He’ll get that chance’

Kansas City #Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub says Harrison Butker can attempt 68-yard field goals: ‘He’ll get that chance’ | @EdEastonJr

The Kansas City Chiefs’ victory last Sunday over the Cincinnati Bengals featured many memorable moments, including another famous kick from Harrison Butker that almost happened.

Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub revealed that Mahomes doesn’t need to get to the 50-yard line. From what Toub sees in practice, he could be much farther out.

“In a vacuum, he could probably hit, I’d say, a 68-yarder, with a little bit of wind, he could probably bang. I’ve seen him do it 73 yards,” said Toub. “I have seen him do it. So that kick was very makeable because we had the wind at our back, and he and he hit a, I think he hit a 66 in pregame, and then we tried a 73, and he just kind of barely, it was plenty leg. The leg was strong enough, but there was just a little bit left. In the right conditions with the time, right.”

Butker’s career-long field goal in the regular season is 62 yards, which he connected in 2022. He already holds the record for the longest-made field goal in a Super Bowl with 57 yards at Super Bowl LVIII.

“If we ran a little bit more time off the clock there if it was 10 seconds or so, you take a shot at it; we’ll get that option. You know, we’re going to get that chance. I mean, he was disappointed. You see him, he was disappointed we took him off. He really thought we were going. I did, too. I really did. But then he was right. That was a smart decision by Coach (Andy) Reid.”

Butker’s range is respected around the league, and he consistently seeks to show off his leg and conquer some league records.