Ryan Longwell on Dan Bailey

Well, we don't have much hope elsewhere. He had been quite good for the year and a half prior to this 2 week meltdown. Hopefully he snaps out of his funk.

@"PurpleCrush" said: Well, we don't have much hope elsewhere. He had been quite good for the year and a half prior to this 2 week meltdown. Hopefully he snaps out of his funk.

Yeah I hope he can turn it around. But there is still the common denominator of kicker problems under Zimmer. This is not new. Hoping for the best.

@"Vikergirl" said:

@"PurpleCrush" said: Well, we don't have much hope elsewhere. He had been quite good for the year and a half prior to this 2 week meltdown. Hopefully he snaps out of his funk.

Yeah I hope he can turn it around. But there is still the common denominator of kicker problems under Zimmer. This is not new. Hoping for the best.

The 'Zimmer is the Death God to kickers' is so overplayed. Are the other coaches massaging their feet and feeding them Nacho cheese Doritos on the sideline before every kick? Making the heart sign with their hands and pointing to them as the kickers walk onto the field? 

MAKE. THE. KICK. Its what they all are paid to do.

@"PurpleCrush" said:

@"Vikergirl" said:

@"PurpleCrush" said: Well, we don't have much hope elsewhere. He had been quite good for the year and a half prior to this 2 week meltdown. Hopefully he snaps out of his funk.

Yeah I hope he can turn it around. But there is still the common denominator of kicker problems under Zimmer. This is not new. Hoping for the best.

It's pretty odd. I have no idea what it is exactly. At the end of the day, these guys are paid to make kicks. It's not like it's related to scheme or anything like that. I mean, is Zimmer whispering in their ears what kind of evil shit he's going to do to them or something?

@"StickyBun" said: The 'Zimmer is the Death God to kickers' is so overplayed. Are the other coaches massaging their feet and feeding them Nacho cheese Doritos on the sideline before every kick? Making the heart sign with their hands and pointing to them as the kickers walk onto the field? 

MAKE. THE. KICK. Its what they all are paid to do.

Not sure about this year, but kickers elsewhere were shanking in 2019 as well.  And with the goofiness this year, changing long snappers and such, one has to wonder if that has an effect.

@"greediron" said:

@"StickyBun" said: The 'Zimmer is the Death God to kickers' is so overplayed. Are the other coaches massaging their feet and feeding them Nacho cheese Doritos on the sideline before every kick? Making the heart sign with their hands and pointing to them as the kickers walk onto the field? 

MAKE. THE. KICK. Its what they all are paid to do.

Not sure about this year, but kickers elsewhere were shanking in 2019 as well.  And with the goofiness this year, changing long snappers and such, one has to wonder if that has an effect.

@"StickyBun" said: The 'Zimmer is the Death God to kickers' is so overplayed. Are the other coaches massaging their feet and feeding them Nacho cheese Doritos on the sideline before every kick? Making the heart sign with their hands and pointing to them as the kickers walk onto the field? 

MAKE. THE. KICK. Its what they all are paid to do.

Amen. The only kicker I felt bad for was Carlson, it being like his first or second game and all. The rest brought it upon themselves, being veterans in the league. You get paid for one damn thing, kick the damn ball between the uprights. Shouldn't have to coddle players in football all the damn time.

@"StickyBun" said: The 'Zimmer is the Death God to kickers' is so overplayed. Are the other coaches massaging their feet and feeding them Nacho cheese Doritos on the sideline before every kick? Making the heart sign with their hands and pointing to them as the kickers walk onto the field? 

MAKE. THE. KICK. Its what they all are paid to do.

Not sure what you are arguing here. Are you saying kickers everywhere have problems? If the Vikings have had more kicker consistency problems since Zimmer has been here...then what is the common problem? Spielman? Sugarman? Some supernatural curse on the franchise??

I suspect there are Zimmer-related issues, but not necessarily that he is giving kickers the evil eye or failing to give them enough love. I see two possible problems:

1. Zimmer doesn't pick assistant coaches (outside the defense) very well. One of the reported reasons teams didn't hire him as HC is that he didn't have good answers about assembling a staff. Well, he kept a surprising number of Frazier's assistants, notably ST, proving the point. There are a lot of aspects to being a head coach, and getting the right people to take care of each unit is a big one. We have had many poor OL coaches, he kept a WR coach from Frazier's staff (forgot his name) who had been really unproductive, the OC turnover is legendary. Is it so hard to think we have kicking problems because we don't have ST coaching that is any good at identifying good kickers?

2. This is more speculative, but...I think there are some core problems with the attitude on this team, that could have to do with people being blamed, from the HC down. Sometimes we hear it in a press conference but I bet that's the tip of the iceberg and players and coaches get blasted behind closed doors, and maybe certain "favorites" are treated differently and the rest of the team knows who they are.  It shows up when the team is unexpectedly utterly limp for some games (like Atlanta this year), and probably in individual performances, but few of those are as spotlighted as a specialist (and maybe QB). 

@"StickyBun" said: The 'Zimmer is the Death God to kickers' is so overplayed. Are the other coaches massaging their feet and feeding them Nacho cheese Doritos on the sideline before every kick? Making the heart sign with their hands and pointing to them as the kickers walk onto the field? 

MAKE. THE. KICK. Its what they all are paid to do.

IT'S. NOT. THAT. EASY. Baseball players are paid to hit the damn ball. Basketball players are paid to make the damn shot. Golfers are paid to make the damn putt. Doesn't mean it's going to happen all the time. 

I do think you're onto something about the cheese doritos though. And I'm not joking about that. The psychology of it is a big deal. If someone could ever unravel the psychology of what makes shooters, hitters, kickers, throwers slump and get hot, he would make billions. 

I have no idea what Zimmer does to get in kickers heads to badly. But he's old school. Wouldn't surprise me if he still uses that fake tough bullshit, as if it's ever worked. Maybe tell him a joke before he goes out there instead of threatening him. 

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"StickyBun" said: The 'Zimmer is the Death God to kickers' is so overplayed. Are the other coaches massaging their feet and feeding them Nacho cheese Doritos on the sideline before every kick? Making the heart sign with their hands and pointing to them as the kickers walk onto the field? 

MAKE. THE. KICK. Its what they all are paid to do.

IT'S. NOT. THAT. EASY. Baseball players are paid to hit the damn ball. Basketball players are paid to make the damn shot. Golfers are paid to make the damn putt. Doesn't mean it's going to happen all the time. 

I do think you're onto something about the cheese doritos though. And I'm not joking about that. The psychology of it is a big deal. If someone could ever unravel the psychology of what makes shooters, hitters, kickers, throwers slump and get hot, he would make billions. 

I have no idea what Zimmer does to get in kickers heads to badly. But he's old school. Wouldn't surprise me if he still uses that fake tough bullshit, as if it's ever worked. Maybe tell him a joke before he goes out there instead of threatening him. 

I've been pondering Bailey's dramatic crash of the last few weeks and I'm wondering if it could be associated with the change in long snappers. I know kicking is completely timing based and just think something could have changed with the snap that is affecting his timing and has screwed up his confidence.

@"1VikesFan" said: I've been pondering Bailey's dramatic crash of the last few weeks and I'm wondering if it could be associated with the change in long snappers. I know kicking is completely timing based and just think something could have changed with the snap that is affecting his timing and has screwed up his confidence.

Ryan Longwell did an interview recently, where he brought up that exact scenario being a likely reason for Bailey's struggles. 

I don’t think you’re looking for a guy who doesn’t have bad
games.  Almost all kickers go through
weird stretches where they miss at a higher than normal rate.  I think you’re looking for a guy who doesn’t
let it get into his head and snowball for too long.

I do think it’s the wrong to say just kick the ball
better.  It’s a 3 person process to
me.  The long snapper, holder, and kicker
are all working together to maximize the chances the ball goes through the
uprights.

@"StickyBun" said:

@"MaroonBells" said:

@"StickyBun" said: The 'Zimmer is the Death God to kickers' is so overplayed. Are the other coaches massaging their feet and feeding them Nacho cheese Doritos on the sideline before every kick? Making the heart sign with their hands and pointing to them as the kickers walk onto the field? 

MAKE. THE. KICK. Its what they all are paid to do.

IT'S. NOT. THAT. EASY. Baseball players are paid to hit the damn ball. Basketball players are paid to make the damn shot. Golfers are paid to make the damn putt. Doesn't mean it's going to happen all the time. 

I do think you're onto something about the cheese doritos though. And I'm not joking about that. The psychology of it is a big deal. If someone could ever unravel the psychology of what makes shooters, hitters, kickers, throwers slump and get hot, he would make billions. 

I have no idea what Zimmer does to get in kickers heads to badly. But he's old school. Wouldn't surprise me if he still uses that fake tough bullshit, as if it's ever worked. Maybe tell him a joke before he goes out there instead of threatening him. 

So who was the Dan Bailey of 2019 coached by the same demonic Mike Zimmer? Was he body snatched? 93.1% FG percentage and 2nd best KO average of his career last year. Lots of assumptions being made about how Zimmer treats Bailey. We have zero idea what actually happens. 

At least its just kickers. With Tice, it was punters too. That home game against the Buffalo was brutal. It didn't help we had a group of Bills fans sitting right behind us that game.

@"1VikesFan" said: I've been pondering Bailey's dramatic crash of the last few weeks and I'm wondering if it could be associated with the change in long snappers. I know kicking is completely timing based and just think something could have changed with the snap that is affecting his timing and has screwed up his confidence.

That is what I am saying.  He was great last year, but was cut in Dallas because he struggled.  So he seemingly had conquered his demons until an interruption to his timing has gotten him in a slump again.  Kicking is a lot like hitting in baseball/softball.  Too much time to think about it between chances and those chances are rather limited.  Then you get back up there and the pressure is to make up for the last one. 

Bailey has a great record. Anyone remember the game where Crosby missed 4 FG’s., course its always a luxury to play on the same O as a HOF QB, he’ll likely bail you out gag

@"greediron" said:

@"1VikesFan" said: I've been pondering Bailey's dramatic crash of the last few weeks and I'm wondering if it could be associated with the change in long snappers. I know kicking is completely timing based and just think something could have changed with the snap that is affecting his timing and has screwed up his confidence.

That is what I am saying.  He was great last year, but was cut in Dallas because he struggled.  So he seemingly had conquered his demons until an interruption to his timing has gotten him in a slump again.  Kicking is a lot like hitting in baseball/softball.  Too much time to think about it between chances and those chances are rather limited.  Then you get back up there and the pressure is to make up for the last one. 

A 15 minute fix would be great.

Ryan Longwell on Dan Bailey:

“What I saw in Tampa is a guy that is just totally out of rhythm... That tells me that the change of snapper - whether they want to talk about it or not - threw off the cadence of the entire operation... With extra reps I see it as a 15-minute fix.” https://t.co/RabNyoxQ5X

— Sean Borman (@SeanBormanNFL) December 18, 2020