Patterson is fine. that 52 yarder was tipped as well IIRC so it would’ve looked more ‘stable’ had it not.
he’s honestly the most reliable kicker we’ve had since prater.
Exactly right. He’s 11-13 on FGs and 23-23 on XPs which is no guarantee. He might not have the ability to bang in a 55+ yarder and he did miss a notable short one this season but I don’t know what more people want from the guy. He’s rock solid.
If and when we could upgrade I’m all for it but I have never understood how people think that it’s easy, because it isn’t. How many kickers have lost their jobs this season and would the 49er’s use another 3rd round pick on a guy who is 4-7 past 40 yards?
More confidence and a more repeatable range of motion on his FGs.
He has way more uncertainty in his energy than I’m comfortable with, th Pugh I concede, that has improved a TON.
Also, I like at least having the option of going for a long fg with no time on the clock.
That short one he missed last week…some of us could have hit that one
Well that’s 1. And what makes you think he has no confidence? Pffff.
You can tell this by watching on TV???
Very doubtful ANYONE on this board could even kick a 20 yard FG
I can in Madden. That counts, right?
You know I love you Natty but I have no idea what you mean about him having no confidence. What I do know is that he’s 24-27 on FGs and 39-39 on XPs in his 2 seasons with the Lions. That’s pretty solid.
If they can upgrade then go for it but he’s good enough for now.
Riley is what he has been. Nearly automatic under 40. Still very solid in the 40-50 yard. Capable of nailing some FGs under 55 yards, but not even an option if 55+.
Maybe that 55+ means more to me than it should but I’d like to know that if we were on the 40 yard line with 3 seconds to go our kicker at least had the leg to attempt a 57-58 yarder, especially if it’s a playoff game. I would take a kicker who is just a little more inconsistent in the short game but has a leg that can hit from 60.
With that said, those guys can be hard to find and I’m okay with Patterson for now.
I’ll sum it up like this.
Having a consistent, reliable, long range kicker is a major asset in the NFL. Every coach would love to have one and I’m sure MCDC/BH/BJ are no exception here. They are making due with what they have.
And to add to what @BigNatty said: if you can’t reliably kick long FGs, then you better make the easy ones when you’re asked, because the truth is you’re being asked to do less then a really good all around NFL field goal kicker is and should have the time to focus on the short range imho.
We were spoiled with Hanson and Prater (and Muhlbach) for so many years that we were able to just take the kicking game for granted for a long time.
Patterson’s record is good, and I was surprised he was let go the first time. He’s 36/38 from inside 40, 15/18 from 40-49 and 3/6 from 50+ and 87.1% overall, which would place him 6th on the all time list, which is quite surprising.
Obviously the caveat to that is that he doesn’t have a big leg and Campbell doesn’t seem keen to give him a shot outside of 50 yards. How much of that is down to Campbell’s game management decisions to go for it on 4th down or try to pin a team inside the 10 with Fox, and how much of that is down to not having faith in Patterson we don’t know.
What we do know is that the regime choose Patterson over Romo’s bigger, less accurate leg and that speaks to them prioritizing reliability over range, which makes a lot of sense to me.
I’m happy enough with Patterson though I do expect him to face some competition again next offseason. Hopefully he’s also adding some muscle to extend his range a bit too.
Really spoiled with Prater and all those game winning and 50+ yard kicks.
Riley doesn’t mind being the scape goat. He will just keep doing his job, and every once in a while make a kick that throws the haters a bone so that they can continue to use him as the “Major Concern” for the team as a whole.
You can’t?
I’ll bet there are a handful, for sure.
I would bet several can. However probably not with a live pass rush.
I could make 35 yards or so last time I tried. Now if Suh was trying to kill me I’d probably shit my pants and kick the ball sideways.
I agree he is getting job done. Was the one he missed when the LS was hurt?
Maybe we should have a forum kicking event to find out. Everything on video. That would be fun.
In high school, I tried out for the football team as a kicker. In conventional style, I could kick 35 yard FGs with good consistency. But the kid I was competing against, who was a soccer style guy, could kick 50 yard FGs. Once I saw that, it was the end of the tryouts for me.
First off I can absolutely kick a 20 yarder…where I get lost is over 30 now. And lets be clear we are not talking game kicking. These will be low line drives.
I am not at all comfortable with the kicking situation. With that said, year to date he has been great. He is 23-23 on extra points and has missed a 52 yarder and a puppy last week. Both missed happened in wins so that definitely helps his cause.
Again the concern for me is that 50+ yarder needed in the playoff outside. And the other thing is he has not done it yet in a big moment. It is kind of similar to how I view QBs. Until they have shown they can win in the big moments you just don’t know. And it is not fair because it takes a whole team to even get to those moments.