Is Joe Nedney still looking for work? Perhaps the conditions played into his miss because, from what I hear, Nick Folk is a money kicker and he missed 2 and damn near missed a third.
The missed field goal, the flags on the uprights weren't even moving. Please don't say the wind was a factor. Here's the thing about Sturgis: I really don't care what the statistics say here, it's another example of statistics not telling the whole story. Sturgis has been anything but dependable. I'd be surprised if there was a Dolphins fan out there who believes that with the game on the line, and Sturgis kicking, that the Dolphins are going to win. He just doesn't make the ones that really count, seemingly. I don't care about his strong leg, if he's hooking them left or right. Also, as has already been mentioned, he rarely seems to put kickoffs out of the endzone, which I seem to see all the time from other kickers. Maybe the statistics actually show that I'm wrong, I don't know, I haven't looked at any sort of clutch kicking stats. I just know that I have no faith in Sturgis to make the kick. How do you think his teammates feel? I'd kill for Stoyanovich.
Those numbers were good a decade ago and in the 90s. Not so much now. Sturgis finished as a bottom 5 kicker last year(29th) and is on pace to finish 23rd this year in percentage. He's 5-8 from 40-49, and if you look at the league average for 40-49, it's well above 63%. http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/kicking/sort/fieldGoalsMade40_49 Sturgis can and should be upgraded in the offseason
It wasn't windy but have you ever kicked a cold football? Its like kicking a friggen rock. You know how the altitude in Denver is famous for adding length to kicks? Well cold is the reverse. It makes you kick different and we saw oit on both sides. Kickoffs FWIW could be a team philosophy. Some teams like to try and pin opponents inside the 20. Also his last kickoff was genius with the game on the line.
Alex, that's all well and good. All I'm saying is that the great kickers kick it no matter what. We all hate the Pats, and hate Vinateri, but how many kicks did we see that dude make in crucial situations, in nasty, cold, snowy weather. You have any confidence that Sturgis could do that? I don't. But it's not just this game. Anytime Sturgis has a kick over 40 I feel like he's going to miss it, whether it's in cold weather or warm. Oh, and by the way, it wasn't that cold in New York last night, not like they were playing in 10 degree weather.
Well if you look I never said not to bring in someone this offseason. I'm 100% for that. My only point is to the people who want to cut him this instant and hire "abyone" because they think that will be better. The reality is he will be kicking for us the rest of the season for good reason. I'd love an elite kicker but the reality is they don't grow on trees. I actually do have faith in Sturgis if a game is on the line.
Oh, I agree that they don't grow on trees, and I certainly am not arguing that we should cut Sturgis today, and just sign "anyone." However, I do think that the Dolphins should make every effort to replace Sturgis in the offseason. He just constantly is underwhelming.
Unless I'm mistaken, he did make the FG witht he game on the line last night. It wasn't a hard one, but he made it. He also had a clutch kickoff through the back of the endzone on the ensuing kickoff. He's very average, so I have no real problem with replacing him after the season. But he's not terrible.
I am all about Aguayo - certainly not in the first round though. Will he even be in this year's upcoming draft? He's hands down better than Sturgis. I think he's only missed 3 kicks this year. He's made them all from 50+ (granted, he's only had three tries).
Fineas, yeah, he made the one to win, but he also missed the one earlier which would have made the game winner non-essential. I'm sorry, I don't have any confidence when he's kicking. Also, Steeda, Sturgis is 2/3 on 50+ yarders this season...
resnor, I was talking about Aguayo being 3/3 on 50+ yarders. http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/535422/roberto-aguayo
Oh, I know, I was simply comparing his 50 yarders to Sturgis. Didn't mean to be confusing with my post.
Considering Ireland was a a kicker in college, replacing carpenter with this schmuck was his biggest fail.
Alright see that is 100% fine with me. Kickers don't cost a ton of resources and if he can be upgraded that is great. FWIW does anyone know how many, if any, of his fg misses were blocked? That impacts his % but isnt 100% his fault.
Sturgis is a bottom 5-10 kicker in the NFL. Getting a top 20 kicker is easy, you just have to be willing to invest more than the vet minimum to get one. Sturgis will be the kicker to close out the season. But it's not outlandish to ponder whether there are better options sitting at home at the moment. There very well could be.
Agree to disagree. Hes 24/29 and ranked 23 but everyone in that range is bunched together so tightly that he'd jump a handul of guys and easily be a top 20 kicker if he wasn't kicking a rock yesterday.
I really think that you're making a bigger deal of the temperature yesterday. We had a nice, mild day up here in New England.
I agree Dez, then a long snapper in the second and a holder in the third. Should fill that hole. Then we will be set.
It was even mentioned several times by the crew. Its not just the cold either. It rained a good bit which makes it hard to dig into kicks footing wise. Folk can kick 45 yards easily but barely got enough distance once and shanked it again. Hes a good kicker.
I'm more concerned with his kick offs. In the Denver game at Altitude he wasn't even getting it to the end zone.WTF
I would have released him after the on side kick embarrassment. Just the fact that he attempted that earns ouster from the league.
You're disagreeing with facts. Sturgis for his career overall and from 40+ is well below league average. This is not just about one kick in above freezing temperatures
Sturgis has always had a strong leg. The coaching staff is asking him to kick the ball higher and shorter because our coverage team is horrible. Just look at last night... The one time they let him keep ck it deep he kicked it out of the end zone.
Oh, I'm sure he practiced it and somehow convinced them to try it and somehow was given the go ahead. Which says a lot about him and the staff. Embarrassment.
that was on the coaching staff. he kicked the crap out of the ball when they let him he is only in his second year, and his accuracy is up this year. I feel good about his future.
If he can consistently kick it out of the end zone, how would it make sense for the coaches to have him kick it short because our coverage is terrible? That doesn't even make any sense...
I agree with you, but no question they are the ones that had him kicking that pop up kick off. I think on that last kick he was saying FU to the staff for having him do it in the first place.
I don't think I would live long enough to see it, even if he made it. My anxiety would kill me first. </overlydramaticresponse>