Can We Take A Moment To Thank Dan Bailey?
It's clear that the Vikings are cursed at the kicking position. Obviously, 2 incidents standout the most.
The first is the 1998 NFC Championship game. Gary Anderson hadn't missed a kick all year long up until the NFC Championship game when he missed a kick that ultimately would have won us the game. The second incident is much more recent and still hurts to talk about, so I will make this very short.
Blair Walsh.
No need to go any further into that one. Since Blair Walsh I haven't been able to watch the TV when they bring the field goal unit out. Blair Walsh was never the same after he missed that kick, Kai Forbath had an extra point problem, Daniel Carlson had the worst game any kicker in the NFL has had EVER, and we spent a 5th round pick on Kaare Vedvik who couldn't make a field goal in a preseason game.
But I just realized this past year that all of those problems went away. I don't remember hearing one story about our kicking this year. 2 years ago every story about the Vikings was about their kicking situation, but Dan Bailey finally shut them up.
Dan Bailey has had a very good career. He held the record for the highest field goal percentage of any kicker until he had a severe leg injury. The Cowboys cut him and it looked like he would never be the same. The first year he was on the Vikings he only had a 75% field goal percentage and was 4/9 from 40-49 yards. We tried to replace him with Carlson and Vedvik, but he fought his way back to the starting position. This year he had a 93% field goal percentage and only missed 2 field goals all season.
I'm sure sometime in January next year I'll look back at this post and hate myself for believing in this guy, but for now I want to thank you Dan Bailey. The only time we see news on kickers is when they are getting sh*# on by the media, but Dan Bailey deserves a post to thank him for what he's done this past year in Minnesota.
