Stop me if you’ve heard this before. The Minnesota Vikings have a kicking issue. They did with Blair Walsh. They did with Dan Bailey. Now Kevin O’Connell has a kicking issue with returning veteran Greg Joseph.
After an extremely up-and-down season from Dan Bailey in 2020, the Minnesota Vikings went into the 2021 offseason in need of a kicker. After hitting a few snags early in the actual 2021 season, including the missed kick that would have been a game-winner in Arizona, Greg Joseph largely answered the bell for the Vikings in this arena.
During Kirk Cousins’ first season with the Minnesota Vikings, kicker Daniel Carlson was solely accountable for the team’s loss at Lambeau Field in 2018.
Before this season, the Minnesota Vikings special teams were in shambles for some time. Last season was terrible. Dan Bailey couldn’t kick a field goal, Britton Colquitt was amongst the worst punters in the league, and the Vikings had no return game to speak of.
The Minnesota Vikings parted ways with kicker Dan Bailey early in March of this year. That would have given the team plenty of time to find a suitable replacement for the once automatic Bailey.
For what felt like ten minutes, the Minnesota Vikings kicker situation stabilized in 2019. Former Viking Dan Bailey had a nifty season after replacing rookie Daniel Carlson the year before.
What feels like a neverending problem for the franchise, the upcoming 2021 season for the Minnesota Vikings could be significantly impacted by the team’s kicking game.
He was abysmal for the most part in 2020, making only 15 of 22 field goals and 37 of 43 extra points. Once one of the top kickers in the league with the Cowboys, Bailey is now 33 as he hits free agency.
Everybody has a bad day sometimes, but calling Dan Bailey’s efforts in Week 14 bad would be an understatement. The Minnesota Vikings kicker had one of the worst kicking days in memory Sunday, and the statistics back that up.
Kicking issues continue to haunt the Minnesota Vikings, who dropped to 6-7 on the season after a 26-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
As Vince Lombardi once said: “What the hell is going on out here?” That age old phrase is eerily apt for this 2018 NFL season, as we have seen tie games, a spate of overtime games, missed kicks (and missing kickers), unique records and a bunch of young quarterbacks ushering in the new age.
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!