A new Kicker?

[jatfly]

Raiders won't give kicker the boot

By Jason Jones - Bee Staff Writer

Published 12:00 am PDT Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Story appeared in SPORTS section, Page C3

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]ALAMEDA -- Josh McCown isn't the only Raider many believe shouldn't be playing this Sunday.

Through two games, kicker Sebastian Janikowski is 1 of 5 on field goals. Still, the Raiders plan to stick with him and won't bring in any other kickers.
Janikowski thought he had won Sunday's game in Denver with a 52-yard field goal in overtime, only to find out the Broncos called a timeout before the kick.
Raiders coach Lane Kiffin said Janikowski made a divot in the grass on that kick. On the next attempt, holder Shane Lechler had to move the ball about 9 inches to the right.
Regardless, Kiffin said Janikowski took the loss hard and "really feels like he's let the team down." Kiffin also defended Janikowski for missing a game-winner from 52 yards.

"It's not a chip shot by any means," Kiffin said. "The other guy (Denver kicker Jason Elam) missed a (45-yard attempt) earlier in the game. We're still behind him, and he's going to win some games from us."

Injury update -- Kiffin said he would provide an update Wednesday on Pro Bowl defensive end Derrick Burgess' status. Burgess left Sunday's game in the fourth quarter with a right calf injury and did not return.
Fullback Oren O'Neal left the game in the first quarter with a hamstring injury. O'Neal said the injury wasn't serious and he doesn't expect to miss any time.

Spy talk -- A reporter relayed a comment from Sunday's television broadcast that the Broncos thought they would be better prepared to win in the second half because their practices are tougher.
Kiffin could only laugh, having heard the comment third-hand, and surmise Denver coach Mike Shanahan "must have pretty good spies" to know how the Raiders practice. Or could the fox from last season be telling secrets?
"Maybe (Mike) Lombardi told him," Kiffin said.
Lombardi is the former Raiders personnel executive who was fired this offseason and now works for the Broncos. He's also the man former coach Art Shell said worked against him last year by anonymously talking to news outlets about him and the coaching staff.
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[Jack's sore libido]

Spy talk -- A reporter relayed a comment from Sunday's television broadcast that the Broncos thought they would be better prepared to win in the second half because their practices are tougher.

Eh, how'd that work out for him?

You know what's occurred to me? While a few people are whining about Kiffin and saying that they've lost respect for him, etc. ... what those people haven't acknowledged is that the Raiders have been down 17-3 at halftime in each of their first two games ... and unlike in years past, no one has panicked.

 

[raiderfreak7]

We outscored them 17-6 in the second half and they were more prepared for it?

 

[jatfly]

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_6945678?source=rss&nclick_check=1


After all those misses Raiders need a kick start
By Steve Corkran
MediaNews
Article Launched: 09/20/2007 01:37:39 AM PDT



There is plenty enough blame for why the Raiders are 0-2 this season. Raiders Coach Lane Kiffin has offered a litany of reasons, to be sure.

A slow-starting offense. Too many turnovers. A glut of missed tackles. Kiffin even has pointed to a divot that led to a misplaced hold on a field-goal attempt as contributing to a loss.

Nowhere, though, does Kiffin single out struggling kicker Sebastian Janikowski despite a league-worst four missed field-goal attempts.

"I'm still behind Janikowski," Kiffin said Monday, when asked about the prospect of bringing in another kicker this week. "He's going through a tough time right now, an emotional roller coaster, because he's such a competitor. He's really taking it hard. He really feels like he's let the team down."

Janikowski has made only one field goal in five attempts this season. His horrid start comes on the heels of his posting the lowest success rate of all regular kickers the past two seasons.

Three of his misses came in Oakland's season-opening 36-21 loss to the Detroit Lions. In that game, Lions kicker Jason Hanson converted all three of his field-goal attempts for an 18-point swing.

Against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Janikowski hit the left upright on an unsuccessful 52-yard attempt in overtime.

"Really disappointing," Janikowski said after the game. "The long field goals aren't working right now. I've had too many 50-yard misses. Regardless of the situation, I just didn't come through."The Broncos won the game on a field goal on the ensuing possession.

"We get spoiled," Kiffin said. "We've got to remember that, even though it's (in Denver), and he kicks so well up there, and that in his mind he can make 10 of 10 from 52 yards, it's still 52 yards. It's not a chip shot, by any means."

Past coaches Norv Turner and Art Shell had similar sentiments the past two seasons, when Janikowski went 20 of 30 (66.7 percent) and 18 of 25 (72 percent) on field-goal attempts in 2005 and '06, respectively.

In fairness, one of Janikowski's misses this season was blocked and two others came from 57 and 52 yards.

"I don't care how long it is . . . 50, 60," Janikowski said. "I should make those. They gave me a chance to win it, and I let everybody down."

The Raiders spent a first-round draft pick on Janikowski in 2000. They rationalized the unconventional use of a first-round pick on a kicker by saying he could do things few, or no other, kickers were capable of doing.

They're still waiting, even as one guy they let go, Phil Dawson, is 3 for 3 this season for the Cleveland Browns, and 159 for 193 during a nine-year career.

The Raiders can get a better comparison come Sunday when they play host to the Browns.

 

[Raidermania12]

I give him credit for not making excuses or blaming the running game.