Pete Carroll, Seahawks Stand By Struggling K Jason Myers
When kickers can’t execute their sole duty, they become easy scapegoats. That’s simply part of the job description.
In Sunday’s 40-34 win over the Buccaneers, Seahawks veteran kicker Jason Myers experienced firsthand the harsh realities associated with playing one of the most cruel positions in all of professional sports.
2019 has been quite the rude wake-up call for Myers, who signed a four-year, $15 million deal with Seattle in March coming off a Pro Bowl season with the New York Jets. Last year, he connected on 91.7 percent of his field goals and made 17 out of 19 attempts from beyond 40 yards.
But this season has been a drastically different tale to this point, a painful reminder of the performance instability NFL kickers can battle year to year. Through nine games, Myers has split the uprights on just 70 percent of his field goal attempts, has missed two extra points, and has converted on only three out of eight attempts from 40 yards or further.
Nearly kicking victory out of the Seahawks grasp, Myers missed an extra point and two field goals, including a game-winning 40-yard attempt at the end of regulation. Boos rained down from the stands and hate spewed from relentless keyboard warriors on Twitter.
Luckily, backup quarterback Geno Smith pulled off some magic winning Seattle the coin toss before overtime and Russell Wilson found Jacob Hollister for a 10-yard touchdown, bailing out the embattled kicker and salvaging what would’ve been a devastating home defeat.
As expected, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll went out of his way to defend Myers following the game, reaffirming the team’s confidence in him heading into a brutal stretch with six of their final seven games against opponents with winning records.
“Our kicker, Jason Myers, he’s our kicker.” Carroll asserted. “It didn’t go right today for him, but it’s going to. So, we’re counting on him to come back next week and kick the winners and do all the things we need to do. He has a magnificent talent, and today it got hard and didn’t work out right.”
Calling out Myers wouldn’t have done the team or player any favors, as there may not be a position in football where performance hinges so much on confidence. But it’s worth wondering if he’ll be able to rediscover his 2018 form based solely on the fact his numbers appear to be regressing to the mean.
Before his career year in New York, Myers got beat out for Seattle’s place kicking duties by Sebastian Janikowski in August 2018. After making just 11 out of 15 field goal attempts for Jacksonville in the first six games of the 2017 season, he was cut and didn’t latch on with another team the rest of the year.
In three seasons with the Jaguars, Myers made 81 percent of his field goals and missed 12 extra points. He also wasn’t very accurate from long distance, connecting on 10 out of 19 attempts outside of 50 yards.
Seattle is banking on Myers shaking off Sunday’s rough outing, but it’s not as if they have a choice regardless. Cutting him now would create a $3 million dead cap charge and if they’re going to move on from him, it’ll be before 2020 when none of his remaining salary is guaranteed.
Besides, just look at some of the kickers who are employed for other NFL teams currently. The free agent market doesn’t necessarily offer any intriguing upgrade options. Who wants to see Blair Walsh back kicking for Seattle?
So for now, the Seahawks will have to keep their fingers crossed Myers can right the ship and the uprights don’t look they’re closing in on one another. There’s still plenty of season left for him to bust out of his slump and help the team win close games over the final two months.
With that in mind, Carroll and Myers’ teammates will continue to be supportive believing he will come through in the clutch for them in the future, potentially as early as next Monday in San Francisco.
“Our guys won for him. They all said that in the locker room,” Carroll said. “They cared about him, they got his back, and it couldn’t have been more clear about guys coming together for one of their own.”
