Thoughts on Disappointing Seasons & Blair Walsh

[J. Kapp 11]

It's possible and everyone should probably remember this point (not having someone who can hit the long FGs).

But at the same time...we now know FACTUALLY that Walsh can't be trusted in big games to hit a game winner. To me...that makes him not worth it...end of story. I now fell CERTAIN that if placed in the same position we will get the same result OR that almost as bad, the coaching staff will now never trust him to be in that position which defeats the entire purpose of having him on the roster.

Capitalizing the word "fact" doesn't make it a fact. Saying, "End of story" doesn't make it the end of the story. Who are you? Donald Trump?

Trust is, by definition, a matter of opinion. You don't trust him. I do. Those are both opinions.

I feel certain you are dead wrong in almost every aspect, especially when it comes to the coaching staff. If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on the Blair Walsh being the Vikings kicker opening day 2016. And you don't keep a kicker you don't trust.

[chicagopurple]

Yo....people...Walsh was a more effective Offensive weapon this year then Teddy was.
The missed kick was Locke's fault....Laces wrong ( twice in one game!), and he let the ball slip before it was kicked.....get a clue..its not Walsh's fault.
Locke's a mediocre punter who cant do his job right...HE needs to go...punters are a dime a dozen.

[Pondering Her Percy]

Yo....people...Walsh was a more effective Offensive weapon this year then Teddy was.
The missed kick was Locke's fault....Laces wrong ( twice in one game!), and he let the ball slip before it was kicked.....get a clue..its not Walsh's fault.
Locke's a mediocre punter who cant do his job right...HE needs to go...punters are a dime a dozen.

Disagree with all of this. I've backed Walsh but missing at 27 yards is on him. Blame Locke all you want but if Walsh can hit a 47 yard FG with the laces in, why can't he hit a 27 yarder. However, this shouldn't be the end of Walsh. He's an above average kicker but was not a "better offensive weapon than Teddy". That's pretty over the top

[PurpleKoolaid]

Yo....people...Walsh was a more effective Offensive weapon this year then Teddy was.
The missed kick was Locke's fault....Laces wrong ( twice in one game!), and he let the ball slip before it was kicked.....get a clue..its not Walsh's fault.
Locke's a mediocre punter who cant do his job right...HE needs to go...punters are a dime a dozen.

You just dont give up do you?

[Purple Reign]

Yo....people...Walsh was a more effective Offensive weapon this year then Teddy was.
The missed kick was Locke's fault....Laces wrong ( twice in one game!), and he let the ball slip before it was kicked.....get a clue..its not Walsh's fault.
Locke's a mediocre punter who cant do his job right...HE needs to go...punters are a dime a dozen.

Disagree - it wasn't Locke's fault. Didn't you read the article explaining why Walsh missed the kick that was posted previously? The main reason was Walsh's plant foot was too close to the ball. Even with the laces down he shouldn't have missed it at 27 yards (the article also explains why Locke didn't spin the ball).

[Banquo]

Silver lining, such as it is and in my humble opinion: the Vikings are a young, ascending team. The majority of their key players are 25 and under. They have a strong coaching staff and a good GM who makes smart moves in the draft and on the free agent market. This is, in all likelihood, the beginning of their success as they make a championship push. They'll be back, and my guess is that as long as they keep this core together and add to it, they'll be back often. If there was a time to lose like this, it's now. In the coming seasons, as the roster is upgraded, Minnesota will become a more serious Super Bowl contender. Those are the seasons in which an ending like Sunday's would be truly tragic.

[Cliff]

My wife pointed out this quote on reddit;

"Vikings fans can't be too mad at Blair Walsh, he's the only one on the team that scored any points."

I personally thought the hold was pretty bad and that matters.

[Boon]

Im angrier at adrian for that stupid fumble that turned from a first down at the 35 to eat more clock at bare minimum to a seattle posession at our 40

[vikesfan87]

Someone on local radio in Toronto conceded that, yes, Blair Walsh was responsible for all 9 of the team's points. He equated it to a goalie in hockey saving 40 shots in regulation, but then giving up a floater from the blue-line in OT to lose the game. People will still label him as the goat.

[Crax]

My wife pointed out this quote on reddit;

"Vikings fans can't be too mad at Blair Walsh, he's the only one on the team that scored any points."

I personally thought the hold was pretty bad and that matters.

Hold was most likely discussed and on purpose from the ST unit based on the snap and wouldn't have mattered at all if Walsh didn't screw up his foot placement. Purple Reign already posted this, but people must be missing it or something. The hold issue was minor. 3 things went wrong on that attempt, the most critical was how Walsh placed his other foot when he kicked it.

http://insidethepylon.com/film-study/fi ... ield-goal/

[Cliff]

Hold was most likely discussed and on purpose from the ST unit based on the snap and wouldn't have mattered at all if Walsh didn't screw up his foot placement. Purple Reign already posted this, but people must be missing it or something. The hold issue was minor. 3 things went wrong on that attempt, the most critical was how Walsh placed his other foot when he kicked it.

http://insidethepylon.com/film-study/fi ... ield-goal/

The article you posted specifically says the hold was bad too. Walsh isn't blameless, of course. But it sounds like 3 things went awry at once.

In short, three things went wrong on this kick: A snap that did not have the correct number of rotations on it, a holder who did not spin the laces away from the kicker, and a plant step that was too close to the ball to allow Walsh’s natural technique to occur.

[Purple Reign]

The article you posted specifically says the hold was bad too. Walsh isn't blameless, of course. But it sounds like 3 things went awry at once.

Yes, it does point out that the hold wasn't perfect, but it also points out it was a minor factor and Walsh's plant foot was the primary reason he missed it. Which means primary blame falls on Walsh, not Locke.

[Cliff]

Yes, it does point out that the hold wasn't perfect, but it also points out it was a minor factor and Walsh's plant foot was the primary reason he missed it. Which means primary blame falls on Walsh, not Locke.

At no point in the article does it say any one problem was "smaller" than the other. It says this;

In short, three things went wrong on this kick: A snap that did not have the correct number of rotations on it, a holder who did not spin the laces away from the kicker, and a plant step that was too close to the ball to allow Walsh’s natural technique to occur. Walsh likely made his earlier kicks because all three did not occur at once on any of those kicks – while he did see laces earlier in the day, his plant step was generally wider and more stable. If any one of these does not occur here, the Vikings are likely on to the Divisional Round. But the convergence of all three of these, likely because of the frigid conditions, caused the kick to quickly veer left of the uprights as the Vikings fell to the Seahawks.

Walsh isn't faultless ... but there were two other players involved in the play that made mistakes.

I'd like to get a break down like this on his other XP misses this year. I wonder if there are any common denominators.

[Crax]

At no point in the article does it say any one problem was "smaller" than the other.

Well, it calls one critical. It doesn't call the other two critical.

Locke has the ball down with the laces facing back. Many people have suggested that this was a poor hold because of the fact it was angled toward Locke. However, most kickers prefer a ball tilted slightly away from them as they kick, as it creates a rounder and smoother surface for them to strike, as well as correcting for the tendency of a ball placed straight down to hook. The angle used here is appropriate and typical for an NFL kicker, and in no way caused any of the problems on this kick.

However, there is a critical error as Walsh makes his plant:
....
If a kicker is too far from a ball, he will spin off the ball and hit a ball with a weak, slicing flight, just like a golfer swinging from the outside-in. Likewise, if a kicker is too close to the ball, his leg will not have adequate distance to swing, and he will whip around the outside of the ball, hitting a low, hooking shot.

Even with the laces the other way, there is a good chance you hooking it when you swing your golf swing/leg/bat etc if you are standing too close to your target and go outside in.

2 of the 3 things are minor issues, one is a critical issue. He made a farther field goal this game with laces facing him but his plant leg placement was fine and it went right down the middle. Did the laces contribute, Yes, but only because the kick was poor. The laces were the same in other kicks that day.

[Cliff]

Even with the laces the other way, there is a good chance you hooking it when you swing your golf swing/leg/bat etc if you are standing too close to your target and go outside in.

2 of the 3 things are minor issues, one is a critical issue. He made a farther field goal this game with laces facing him but his plant leg placement was fine and it went right down the middle. Did the laces contribute, Yes, but only because the kick was poor. The laces were the same in other kicks that day.

That's fine if you think they were minor but the article we're referencing doesn't back that up.

The article specifically says if any one of those mistakes hadn't been made the kick would have likely been good. To me, that means they were all equally critical if the lack of any of the mistakes leads to a score. According to the article if the hold was right, the kick likely would have made it. If the rotation on the snap was right, it likely would have made it. If Walsh hadn't kicked that way it would have likely made it.