Time For a New Kicker?

Is it time to bring in some kickers? It seems like Suisham has missed half of his kicks this year. I think we should let some others have a chance.

 

No way was 3 for 4 perfect on pats I gave him a game ball...Thats a difficult field to kick on.Wes good with #6

 

We didnt have his 9 points on FGs were would we be??

 

I admit, I was nervous thinking of having Suisham try and kick the game winner on that last series. I was worried about giving Brady a shorter field.

 

What are Suisham's numbers this year? As much as I hate the Raisins, their kicker seems to never miss.

 

Posted on here about this last week with Suisham stats, he really hasnt been bad this year.

 

Am I the only one that thinks he looks like the most unconfident kickers ever. His facial expressions before the kicks always make me nervous

 

His "game face" does have him looking a bit scared. I'd keep him on a short leash and have someone lined up in case he starts choking as we head into the second half of the season.

 

I posted on here a few weeks back about this, someone said his numbers arent bad on here.....But they arent good either. He's not consistent, but today he did well....I just thank god that missed 44 yarder didnt cost us this game. I would have felt better with a 9 point lead after the pats last touchdown. But since our D stepped up big, got a strip/sack/fumble/safety, his missed kick was a non issue. If we would have lost by a point, people would be saying much different. He's missed some kicks he should have made this year...But so far none has cost us..I think they'll keep an eye on him, maybe try to boost suishams confidence somehow

 

I think he has done a decent job on field goals but what really gets me is kickoff's. Even with the new kickoff spot, we still struggle to get it in deep in the endzone. I think there was 1 today late in the game. By the way, only 1 punt today. When's the last time that happened?

 

I do miss Jeff Reed but his off the field nonsense was too much to tolerate. Wish we had a lights out kicker like we do a punter. I've really considered buying a Sepulveda jersey>

 

#6 Good for 11 points today!! How many we win by?? Nuff said!! IMO

 

Too late to get a good one now. He's got that Norwood look before all of his field goal kicks. It may actually help the offense, as they will not ever play for the field goal.

 

Suisham is alright. He contributed in a big way today and calling for a new kicker after a performance like this tonight is a little lame guys. Didnt Gostkowski miss one too? This turf is crappy. It is well known and documented. Just look at the chunks that flew in the EZ when Ziggy went after the fumble. He is a big man, but those hunks of turf flew way too easily.

 

Thank you Knox..Thought Reed got raw deal last year but 6 doing well so far this!!

 

Suisham has done ok. I would not say good. I think he scares me a bit but we cannot blame the turf all the time. I went and checked the Pitt stats at Heinz and Kevin Harper has kicked 5 over 40 yards this year including a 46 and 44 yarder. Same field. I just hope that he does not miss one when it counts. I hope Suisham does well the rest of the year as I do like him but he definately needs to get his kickoffs straightened out. The one OB was terrible. He has also kicked plenty into the endzone this year as well but needs to be more consistent.

 

Ahhh what you say...Was checking out your AV!!!!

 

I would hope that any NFL kicker could pooch in 3 FG's from 30 yards out. That kickoff out of bounds was terrible, and while he was money last year on FG's, it seems he's his usual mediocre self this year. He'll get us through the rest of the season, but we can do better. I'm not comfortable when he lines up for FG's, but the chances of finding someone better at this point in the year are nearly less than zero.

 

He's gotta step it up that's, not gonna get it come December when the wind really starts blowing in from the open end.

 

Hey, I respect all of your opinions about Suisham and I do not disrespect fellow fans' opinions. When I started this post, I was not saying we definitely need another kicker. I jsut thought we should bring in some competition in practice to let him know that he has to do better. Then again, maybe it is not good to mess with a kicker's fragile mind.

Last year, I would have defended Suisham to anyone although the season, as he missing only one kick in regular season all year and of course the one in the playoff game. This year, I think he has missed three kicks less than 40 yards in games. That is not okay! Although yesterday, he was 3/4 on kicks, I agree that was not bad. A 44 yard field goal should pretty much be automatic for a kicker at this level, especially when the weather has not even gotten cold yet and he was kicking to the closed side of the field. Over the summer on the other "fake" official message board I remember all through training camp many fans saying that the kicker that was brought in something like the name of Czeck (I have no clue how his name was spelled) deserved to have the job over Suisham. I did not agree after all that he did for us last year and he deserved respect. In training camp their average was about the same and the other kicker's kicks consistently sailed deeply into the end zone on kickoffs. I do not see that now even with the line moved up. Granted or special teams coverage has been much better this year so maybe that is not as important as it was a few years ago when we were really bad on kickoff and punt coverages.

This year in eight games, hasn't (I could be wrong) Suisham missed at least one field goal in 4-5 games. The weather is not even cold and the wind hasn't even started blowing yet. Additionally, our kickoffs should be sailing into the end zone almost automatically.

If his performance does not worry you, I feel that you may change your mind if a kick is missed from 44 yards or less in a playoff game and it costs us. If you give Brady, Rodgers, Rivers, or others the ball after a missed kick with two minutes to go on his own 27 yard line with three timeouts, we will get beat. Yes, we need to start scoring more in the red zone, but that is not happening yet. Going up by nine yesterday would have sealed the game at the end.

I admit, this year I do not have the confidence in Suisham that I had last year. I want to, but just do not feel it. As much as Jeff Reed was off the wall at times, I did have confidence that when the game was on the line, he would make the important game-winning kicks. Do you feel that way now? Yes, I know Reed's kickoffs were weak, but he made up for it by nailing important kicks and being clutch when we needed them.

 

If you bring a guy in what is it going to really help? You have to have the right mind set for that to motivate you, if not it will probably hinder you.

Right now I'm not sure we can do better...

Besides those FGA's should have been TD's!!!

 

I am also concerned about Suisham (sp?).

I would be interested to know his stats on field goals over 40 yards. To my recollection, they wouldn't be very good

 

I think, off-field antics aside, what cost Reed his job was that we were ending up in too many positions where we needed field goals to win. Still, his being sacrificed seemed to work.

I don't think Suisham's been bad this year, just not as good as last year. I also think he's a confidence kicker, so as Da Stellars says, bringing in competition isn't necessarily going to help.

On the subject of kick-offs... I'm going to hate myself for saying this, but I think I'm beginning ot prefer the new rule. There are far more returns being made than I expected, and whenever anyone does return, there's always a bit more excitement about it than before, as there#s more chance of them getting crushed at the 5 or something.

 

Never saw a replay, but it looked like the one Suisham missed was tipped at the line. Anyone know for sure?

I think he is doing fine. If anyone does post stats, it would be good to know what he has done away from Heinz Field. As has been said, our home is a tough place to kick. How do his stats stack up against other kickers in our place?

What I found interesting is that both misses were in the closed end.