Tag: Will Lutz

A Bills’ 12th man penalty gifted the Broncos a second game-winning FG try and NFL fans were astonished

Just to emphasize: THE BRONCOS MISSED THE FIRST KICK!!!

The Buffalo Bills had their sixth win of the 2023 season in the bag on Monday night. After a lucky bounce helped James Cook set up a late Josh Allen touchdown run, all the Buffalo defense had to do was hold serve against Russell Wilson’s Denver Broncos.

They could not accomplish this meager task.

In the final moments, a Taron Johnson pass interference penalty set the Broncos and Will Lutz up with a chip shot 41-yard field goal attempt. A Denver win seemed perfunctory. It was anything but. Lutz would miss the kick wide right … but the Bills had 12 players on the field trying to block the kick. Oh. Oh, no. Josh Allen was rightfully stunned.

Who is coaching Buffalo’s special teams? Why couldn’t they get the substitutions right???

Phew. On a second attempt, because that’s how the cookie crumbles, Lutz cruised the ball right through the uprights for the 24-22 Denver victory. In turn, he drove a dagger into what is starting to feel like a lost Bills season. I’m not sure how a middling 5-5 Bills team could possibly recover from a disastrous loss in this fashion.

Josh Allen was in total shock after the Bills’ catastrophic penalty on missed Broncos FG

Oh no, Josh Allen. Oh no.

Few teams are as good at snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory like the Buffalo Bills are, and Monday night’s absolute disaster of a loss to the Denver Broncos showed exactly why.

After the Bills somehow got gifted with a missed 41-yard field goal from Broncos kicker Will Lutz on the game’s final play, Buffalo had already taken an Acme-sized anvil and promptly dropped it on its own foot by having 12 men on the field during the botched attempt.

In one of the most avoidable penalties possible in crunch time, a substitution error gave Lutz an immediate chance at redemption, which he nailed to win the game for Denver.

Poor Bills quarterback Josh Allen could only look on in shock at his team committing such an absolutely terrible penalty with the game on the line.

His reaction was truly painful.

That is absolutely brutal for Allen and the Bills, as Buffalo falls to a disappointing 5-5 on the season and could possibly miss the playoffs at this rate in a very competitive AFC.

After a so-so game, Allen did what he could to get his team in position to win. It’s just that, y’know, Buffalo had to go and pull a Buffalo.

Feature image courtesy of ESPN.

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Broncos vs. Raiders: 5 things to watch for in Week 1

Here are five things to watch for when the Broncos host the Raiders in Week 1.

Week 1 of the NFL season is upon all 32 teams and their fanbases, and on Sunday afternoon, the Denver Broncos will take on the Las Vegas Raiders. Here are five things for Broncos fans to keep an eye on in Week 1.

Fantasy football waiver wire: Week 18 free-agent forecast

Check out the top waiver wire targets for Week 18 of fantasy football.

Fantasy football waiver wire recommendations refer to 12-team league formats, unless specifically stated.

Check back for any updates throughout Monday and Tuesday as more injury news becomes available.

Saints’ clanging missed FG in loss to Vikings wasn’t even the worst bad beat from the game in London

The Vikings won, but their bettors aren’t likely happy.

The New Orleans Saints’ missed field goal at the end of their loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday would have been as dramatic as Kawhi Leonard’s bouncing game-winner against the Philadelphia 76ers had the stakes been as high.

The 61-yarder struck the left upright of the goal posts at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, ricocheted to the crossbar, then bounced back out of the uprights for a heart-breaking missed field goal. Instead of a tied game headed for overtime, the Vikings won 28-25, and Saints bettors were left in disbelief.

However, the missed field goal wasn’t the worse bad beat from the game. That distinction belongs to a missed extra point about four minutes earlier.

New Orleans’ miss was no doubt a tough blow for Saints moneyline bettors, the majority of the betting public was on Minnesota. The Vikings received 78% of bets against the spread and 84% of bets on the moneyline.

Those spread bettors got the rawest deal, because the line closed at -4 and bounced around between -3 and -3.5 in the days leading up to the game. That missed extra point could have very well been the difference between a four-point win and cover — or a push at the very least — and a loss.

Down just three after the missed XP, the Saints were willing to settle for a 60-yard field goal the following possession, rather than attempting to convert a fourth-and-9 with under two minutes left. Had they been forced by a four-point deficit to go for it, and failed, the game likely would have been over. Instead, kicker Will Lutz hit the field goal to tie the game at 25, and Vikings kicker Greg Joseph responded a minute later with a 47-yarder to redeem himself for the missed XP.

That set the stage for Lutz’s dramatic miss to end the game. But while the Vikings won, their bettors weren’t likely happy at all. The three-point win didn’t do much for many of them.

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Ravens sign undrafted free agent kicker, cut long snapper

The Baltimore Ravens signed former East Carolina kicker Jake Verity while cutting long snapper Brian Khoury

The Baltimore Ravens have been known as a kicking factory over the course of their franchise history. They’ve had some greats roll through their doors including Matt Stover and Justin Tucker, but have also paved the way for other kickers to get their start in the NFL. Robbie Gould, Graham Gano, Stephen Hauschka, Will Lutz, and even Kaare Vedvik are examples of some of the kickers that have made a name for themselves in Baltimore, and another could soon be added to the list.

The Ravens announced that they signed undrafted free agent kicker Jake Verity out of East Carolina University. Verity was widely regarded as one of the best kickers in college football throughout his time with the Pirates, hitting on 75.5% of his field goals and 97.7% of his extra points during his college career.

Verity performed well during the 2018 and 2019 seasons, where he connected on 86% of his field goal attempts. However, he didn’t have his best year in 2020, only converting on 66.6% of field goal tries. Verity also was a semi-finalist for the Lou Groza award, which is handed out to the best kicker in college football.

Baltimore usually carries more than one kicker during training camp to help take some of the workload off of Tucker. While any kicker that signs with the Ravens knows that they probably won’t make Baltimore’s final roster, they take it as a chance to learn from one of the best kickers in the NFL, work with a kicking guru in Baltimore’s special teams coach Randy Brown, and show their skills during the preseason in hopes of landing a great opportunity out of training camp.

The Ravens also cut long snapper Brian Khoury, who they signed back in March. Their roster stands at 89 players after the transactions.