Win Probability Added: +44.99
NEP: +5.00
No one ever envies the position NFL kickers are put in. The old saying goes: “They’re never the heroes and sometimes the villains.” Oakland Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski has been both at one point or another in his career, as we’re talking about the kicker who has attempted the ninth-most field goals in his career. He’s never been the most accurate kicker overall, hitting just 79.9% of his kicks for his career, but he’s been deadly at distance, booting through 66.93% from 40 yards or longer.
It may seem, then, that the 50-yard potential game-winning kick he lined up for in Week 8 would be an easy one. In today’s NFL, however, every kick is an adventure. SeaBass banged the kick well long enough, but it never bent inside the upright. Fortunately, he was neither hero nor villain in Week 8, despite the incredible magnitude of the situation he was thrust into; as we’ll see shortly, Janikowski was bailed out by his teammates in overtime.