Interesting on Rackers miss

[Rivercard]

To say we should of gave them 2 points is just plain silly.

Not really. The two points didn't matter. It would have negated a possible blocked kick (see KC) and allowed for a less stressful kick at the 20 instead of the 15.
Still it would have been a ballsy call.

 

[AZCB34]

That is just plain out assuming Hester was gonna definately return it for a td. There was no way that anyone knew he was gonna do it. The way the Bears offense was that game, I would of had Player punt it to him over and over again. He just needed hangtime on that punt which he didn't have. That is still his fault. To say we should of gave them 2 points is just plain silly.

Hester almost broke one earlier so there had to be a feeling he was more likely than normal to return it. I am not saying you are wrong but Hester is an electrifying punt returner. It wasn;t only the lack of hang time but the coverage downfield was horrendous...I mean, peewee football horrendous. Absolutely no lane discipline at all. Player is not innocent but hardly the only reason that punt was returned.

It is gutsy and maybe a bit silly but still a viable option given what was happening during the game at that time...knowing momentum had definitely shifted and Hester almost broke the other one.

 

[Burg72]

Player, being the veteran he is, should of put enough hangtime on it to force a fair catch, even if it was a shorter punt. The Bears offense wasn't doing anything that night. Player blew it.

 

[Rivercard]

Player, being the veteran he is, should of put enough hangtime on it to force a fair catch, even if it was a shorter punt. The Bears offense wasn't doing anything that night. Player blew it.

I would imagine a long hangtime was the plan but the ol' leg didn't cooperate. Player seems like he's lost it.

 

[Burg72]

I would imagine a long hangtime was the plan but the ol' leg didn't cooperate. Player seems like he's lost it.

yep

 

[Russ Smith]

Boy, that is a REALLY ballsy play (and one that cost San Diego a game against Baltimore earlier on). Hindsight I'd say go for it...at the game I might have swallowed my megaphone. That's a very ballsy move that I don't see this team doing, ever. But it isn't a bad option...though that kind of thing tells the offense "we aren't scared of you at all and we'll even give you two points" which could jumpstart a sucking offense, as it did the Ravens O against the Chargers as they marched up field and scored to win.

The problem is in this case I think its' totally hindsight. We're up 6, a safety makes it 4, they still need a TD to go ahead and if they get that we can still tie with a FG of our own. But as someone else said, you only take the safety if you KNOW that Hester is going to run it back.

If we're punting from the endzone by all means take the safety, but where we punted from it's not the same. He just made a bad kick and Francisco messed up his lane and the rest is history.

 

[Burg72]

It's just a case of "should, woulda, coulda"

 

[Rivercard]

If we're punting from the endzone by all means take the safety, but where we punted from it's not the same. He just made a bad kick and Francisco messed up his lane and the rest is history.

Still, it would have been moot if Rackers wouldn't have missed 2 FG's. Man, special teams have really killed us this year.

 

[Burg72]

and if we didn't settle for FGs off of the TOs instead of, at the least, one TD.

 

[D-Dogg]

I am not saying you are wrong but Hester is an electrifying punt returner.

I was terrified of Hester all night long.

 

[D-Dogg]

The problem is in this case I think its' totally hindsight. .

Absolutely hindsight on that.

Although the strategy there to do it would be sound, as you outlined. I wouldn't have called for it personally but if they did do it you couldn't say it was the wrong move...just incredibly conservative to do so.

I would have either kicked it out of bounds or kicked it with a ton of hang...I think Player tried to kick with hang and just drove it instead.

 

[kerouac9]

It's frankly embarrassing that so many fans are closing ranks to protect a way overpaid kicker who made a ton of meaningless field goals last year but when he's actually needed to close out games--a kicker's job--has choked on his last two attempts.

Is it really that hard to believe that when the pressure's on, this guy just cracks? It happens all the time...

 

[D-Dogg]

It's frankly embarrassing that so many fans are closing ranks to protect a way overpaid kicker who made a ton of meaningless field goals last year but when he's actually needed to close out games--a kicker's job--has choked on his last two attempts.

Is it really that hard to believe that when the pressure's on, this guy just cracks? It happens all the time...

Shouldn't have even got to his miss.

 

[JasonKGME]

It's frankly embarrassing that so many fans are closing ranks to protect a way overpaid kicker who made a ton of meaningless field goals last year but when he's actually needed to close out games--a kicker's job--has choked on his last two attempts.

Is it really that hard to believe that when the pressure's on, this guy just cracks? It happens all the time...

Rackers record for game winning/tieing kicks since coming to AZ, other then the 2 this year he only had 2:

2004 Week 9 @ Miami, :23 seconds to go, score tied after AZ scored last minute TD, extra point is good to win the game.

2004 Week 14 Vs SF, 1:03 to go, Rackers makes 22 yard FG to tie the score sending it to overtime.


So that puts him 2/2, with his misses being a 51 yard FG, and a 42 yarder.

In his Career he only has 2 overtime kicks, 1 extra point made, 1 FG for 30-39 yard range, also made to win the game.



Don;t know if he has had enough clutch kicks to really judge his ability to Clutch kick, I do think 2 misses with 1 being over 50 yards, and 1 being possible tipped it would be hard to say that he is a choker in that position.

 

[ajcardfan]

Shouldn't have even got to his miss.

Irregardless, once he's there he has to come through at least once of the two chances he had. I was thinking of his miss against KC when I watched Josh Brown nail a 54 yd game winner for the Hags. I never thought that Rackers would get an even easier chance to redeem himself the next week and watch him gag AGAIN.

 

[kerouac9]

Rackers record for game winning/tieing kicks since coming to AZ, other then the 2 this year he only had 2:

2004 Week 9 @ Miami, :23 seconds to go, score tied after AZ scored last minute TD, extra point is good to win the game.

2004 Week 14 Vs SF, 1:03 to go, Rackers makes 22 yard FG to tie the score sending it to overtime.


So that puts him 2/2, with his misses being a 51 yard FG, and a 42 yarder.

In his Career he only has 2 overtime kicks, 1 extra point made, 1 FG for 30-39 yard range, also made to win the game.



Don;t know if he has had enough clutch kicks to really judge his ability to Clutch kick, I do think 2 misses with 1 being over 50 yards, and 1 being possible tipped it would be hard to say that he is a choker in that position.

Neither of those are clutch situations, though. The first was an extra point to win the game, but if he misses, the game's still going into overtime.

The second field goal was with 1-plus minutes left in the game. As we all know at this point, there's plenty that can happen in that minute.

I think we know enough at this point to say that Neil Rackers is no Adam Vinitiari. The question now is why is he being paid as if he were?

You must be registered for see images

Sorry, but Neil Rackers is a choker until he's proven otherwise. An unattributed article a week after the fact doesn't do much to sway the evidence.

 

[JasonKGME]

Neither of those are clutch situations, though. The first was an extra point to win the game, but if he misses, the game's still going into overtime.

The second field goal was with 1-plus minutes left in the game. As we all know at this point, there's plenty that can happen in that minute.

I think we know enough at this point to say that Neil Rackers is no Adam Vinitiari. The question now is why is he being paid as if he were?

You must be registered for see images

Sorry, but Neil Rackers is a choker until he's proven otherwise. An unattributed article a week after the fact doesn't do much to sway the evidence.

Ok, so 1:03 is not clutch because there is over a minute left, but 58 seconds and missed is a clutch choke?? 5 seconds is that HUGE of a difference?

 

[Goldfield]

First of all the Bears are desperate to make this game anything but they totally sucked and we basically handed them a gift.

Second, Rackers is looking for anything to blame his crappy performance on.

Yes...

 

[Duckjake]

I think we know enough at this point to say that Neil Rackers is no Adam Vinitiari. The question now is why is he being paid as if he were?

You have to ask?

The NFL CBA has a minimum spending requirement remember. The Cards have to pay guys like that to stay above the minimum.

That's why they cut younger, lower paid players like Capshaw and keep older guys like Player.