Racker's Power

[TJ]

What has happened to his leg? The one thing we could all count on with him was to be able to kick the ball deep in the end zone for touchbacks. Now, it seems like he doesn't have the ability to do this anymore. Is this by design, an injury, or is he deteriorating?

 

[TheCardFan]

Agreed...he can barely get it into the endzone.

I hate the pooch kick-off as well! You can't give the other team the ball at the 35/40/45 to start drives (or let them go all the way).

 

[SeattleCard]

Agreed on both counts.

What happened to his leg?

Also - we gave SF good field position too often.

 

[PACardsFan]

No one has bashed Rackers on this board more than I have. That being said, leave the poor guy alone. The opening kickoff was 4 yds deep - 95% of the returners in this league would have taken a knee. His other kicks were short by design. The guy has been making his FG's & that's all I really care about. Furthermore, he seems to be kicking the ball with an attitude. He even has a cockiness in him right now that I like to see in a kicker. To top things off, he also made a nice tackle. Trust me, if Rackers deserved to be criticized, I'd be the 1st in line.

 

[AzWins23]

I would sacrifice a touchback for a 55 yard field goal

 

[DoTheDew]

Agreed on both counts.

What happened to his leg?

Also - we gave SF good field position too often.

I think after Rossum took it back for 103 yards, the special teams intentionally was kicking it shorter to try to negate Rossum's speed.

 

[Red Dawn]

Maybe he is backing off on the booming kicks to try to make sure of his accuracy. Since last season I cringe every time he kicks the ball.

 

[Spielman]

His touchback percentage is way down... 14.8% compared to being in the 30s in '04 and '05, and the 20s the past two years. 14.8 isn't good... it's 19th in the league among players with 10 or more kickoffs.

 

[Garthshort]

Keep in mind he's not kicking at SDS, with high temps and light air.

 

[RedRob]

Keep in mind he's not kicking at SDS, with high temps and light air.

Open air and cooler temps will definitely slow the ball down, just two weeks ago people were in awe of the guy as he was knocking in 60 yard field goals during warmups with ease; of course that was at Eddie Jones Stadium...

Fact is he has the strongest leg we've had around here for years; last guy who kicked as many touchbacks was probably Nedney (pre knee injury of course).

 

[Mulli]

Does bumping a thread jinx a kicker? 54 yards!!

 

[Redheart]

Great Game Rackers, your points won that game for us.

 

[john h]

What has happened to his leg? The one thing we could all count on with him was to be able to kick the ball deep in the end zone for touchbacks. Now, it seems like he doesn't have the ability to do this anymore. Is this by design, an injury, or is he deteriorating?

When you kick three straight FG, one being from 54 yds, how much did it really matter. He has now kicked 11 straight FG. I did not see any big run backs with his kickoffs. Enjoy Rackers as you are seeing him at his best. Not every FG kicker in the NL can hit those 54 yd FG with a couple of seconds left on the clock. I have not looked at the NL stats but I would think he has one of the better percentages in the NFL. Anyway, I am sure glad we have him.

He got a lot of bad words on this board early on as did Warner. Seen like all the bad press is just that--bad press.

 

[TheCardFan]

When you kick three straight FG, one being from 54 yds, how much did it really matter. He has now kicked 11 straight FG. I did not see any big run backs with his kickoffs. Enjoy Rackers as you are seeing him at his best. Not every FG kicker in the NL can hit those 54 yd FG with a couple of seconds left on the clock. I have not looked at the NL stats but I would think he has one of the better percentages in the NFL. Anyway, I am sure glad we have him.

He got a lot of bad words on this board early on as did Warner. Seen like all the bad press is just that--bad press.

Its a valid question.

FG's much better but what happened to his KO power? We are giving teams too much of a field position advantage on KO's.

 

[Treefiddy]

Its a valid question.

FG's much better but what happened to his KO power? We are giving teams too much of a field position advantage on KO's.

The kicks and field position should be put on the entire unit, not just Rackers. He's displayed several times that he is able to put it into the endzone, but teams aren't afraid to bring it out on us because our coverage is so bad.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

What has happened to his leg? The one thing we could all count on with him was to be able to kick the ball deep in the end zone for touchbacks. Now, it seems like he doesn't have the ability to do this anymore. Is this by design, an injury, or is he deteriorating?

He has kicked it about 2-3 yards deep in the end zone consistently. Unfortunately our coverage teams aren't making them pay for it. Against San Fransisco the opening kickoff was taken back 104 yards.

You only have to look at how many pooch kicks have been called to see Whiz's confidence in his gunners.