Arizona Cardinals always a threat to block field goals
Sep 18, 2012, 4:47 PM | Updated: 6:01 pm
The Arizona Cardinals were a 42-yard field goal away from completing an incredible collapse, one that could have set the tone for the rest of the season.
Up just two after blowing an 11-point fourth quarter lead, Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski, having made all four of his previous attempts Sunday, lined up for the attempt.
While few Cardinals fans had to be confident at that point in the game, in the back of their minds had to have been the team’s success at blocking field goals. It may have been in the front of Gostkowski’s mind, as he pushed the kick wide — very wide — left.
“It definitely gets in kickers’ heads,” Cardinals lineman and field goal blocker extraordinaire Calais Campbell said Monday. “Especially because you know we’re going to give it our all on that play.”
The Cardinals have blocked 13 field goals since 2008, a number that is quite staggering given the infrequency in which attempts are actually blocked. It’s that success, though, that led Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt to have belief that his team was going to hang on Sunday in Foxborough.
“It doesn’t make you feel any better,” he said, noting that the way the game was finishing was anything but comforting. “It tears at you to think that they could have won that game with a kick.
“But in the back of your mind you do know that you have a chance to block it, and that gives you some small comfort.”
The Cardinals did not block it, but it’s very possible the threat alone caused Gostkowski to rush things, causing him to miss badly on the attempt.
And while Whisenhunt said he doesn’t know for sure if the threat of a block led to the miss, he knows it’s possible.
“I hope, I think it contributed to the miss, because they at least had to think about it.”
Arizona Sports’ Kyndra de St. Aubin contributed to this report
