Peter King: Aguayo = Goat
November 1st, 2016
National voice takes notice.
You know it is bad when just the mention of a kicker unnerves Bucs fans to the point they flinch so badly and throw their coffee mug in the air or jerk the steering wheel into traffic, as if someone jabbed them with a cattle prod.
But that is what happens when a team with critical holes in its roster trades up into the second round to draft a kicker who proceeds to botch kicks time and again.
That is what is going on with Bucs kicker Roberto Aguayo, the Jan Stenerud of the Bucs. Joe cannot remember how just a plain ol’ missed extra point has freaked out a fanbase as it did Sunday. That is what happens when the same fanbase, suspicious of Stenerud before he arrived, reacts to an unneeded (some would suggest, unworthy) draft pick.
The howls of protest have grown so loud, even airline-napping, steerage-flying, Yogi Berra-worshiping, urinal picture-taking, video game-playing, Taylor Swift-listening, pickpocket-thwarting, Bucs-uniform-frowning, Allie-LaForce-smitten, Big-Ten-Network-hating, pedestrian-bumping, olive oil-lapping, popcorn-munching, coffee-slurping, fried-chicken-eating, oatmeal-loving, circle-jerking, beer-chugging, cricket-watching, scone-loathing, college football-naïve, baseball-box-score-reading, NPR-honk, filthy-hotel-staying, fight-instigating, barista-training Peter King, of Sports Illustrated and NBC Sports fame has taken notice. He slapped Stenerud with his dubious weekly award.
GOAT OF THE WEEK
Roberto Aguayo, kicker, Tampa Bay. This is turning into a debacle. The man for whom the Bucs traded up in the draft to select in the second round missed a fourth-quarter extra point, hooking it wide left against the Raiders. The score was 17-16, Oakland, when he lined up for the PAT. The score remained 17-16.
Joe admits to loving the drama in a very perverse way. Face it: You didn’t run for a beer Sunday when Stenerud took the field, did you? Of course not. It’s the Bucs version of a car accident on the Howard Frankland Bridge. One feels guilty about gawking, but one still slows down to stare.
Watching Stenerud kick is sort of like cheap TV featuring Nik Wallenda walking across a canyon gorge on a highwire, and you keep waiting for a hawk to fly by to see if Wallenda gets thrown off balance.
And yes, Joe is convinced Stenerud will not be cut. Second round picks are not thrown in the gutter after seven games.
November 1st, 2016 at 7:17 am
As Dave Moore shared on Sunday after the missed extra point the demeanour of the whole team in the sidelines was noticeable deflated!
But it didn’t help that JW went into a lost in space mode. Seeing JW performance does not aliviate the confusion on Bucs fan at this moment.
Going into Thursday’s game which we should have felt as getting ready to take ove the division we don’t have a clue whether the playoffs are still a possibility with this team or a high draft pick!
The Den of Depression has the Bucs by their —- and is not letting go!
November 1st, 2016 at 7:23 am
^The Den of Depression has the Bucs by their “FOOTBALLS” and is not letting go!
November 1st, 2016 at 7:27 am
I agree Joe, I dont think he will be thrown away after seven games even though we might think we should, but who will replace him? He needs some competition so we can sit his ass and hope the next kicker is better that 50%, sad but true, this way Aguayo can get his head straight or try to compete with his would be replacement. But I’ve said this before, if our Offense is doing its job we shouldn’t have to rely on this kicker to keep us in the game that is the offenses job.
November 1st, 2016 at 7:33 am
Jameis and offense gave the Bucs the lead with 3 minutes remaining. I know I wasn’t the only one that knew that lead wouldn’t hole up. This defense needs to get better.
November 1st, 2016 at 7:51 am
I did sense that both the team and the stadium, myself included, was deflated when he missed that kick. They need to bring in a 2nd kicker. Licht may lose his job for this one but they will all lose their jobs if this kid keeps missing and losing games.
November 1st, 2016 at 7:55 am
Keep him for kickoffs and go for 2 after every touchdown. If we have 4th down inside the opponents 25 then go for it on 4th down. That is how you eliminate the kicker.
November 1st, 2016 at 7:57 am
^^^^^^meant 35.
November 1st, 2016 at 8:01 am
No he wont get cut and cmon joe stop slowing down to gawk. The DE and WR we sorely need right now could be the 3rd n 4th rounders. No idea how anyone could be for drafting aguayo. Carr could have been a Car back there and the DE’s still wouldnt have gotten a hand on it. Blitz Mr Smith BLITZ!!! go bucs
November 1st, 2016 at 8:08 am
I have never seen a team make it look soooo hard in every aspect of the game.
The simplest plays on offense look excruciatingly hard. I watch every team we play against and they’re dumping off passes for 7 or 8 yards at will and the Bucs struggle to complete anything.
On defense they rush 4 and the pocket opens up for the QB to step up into like the red sea. Any time we go to a hybrid nickel rush the safeties get burned. It’s a no-win situation that shouldn’t be when you have a DT with $100 million dollar contract. That bum needs to go. At least when Watt is healthy he’s dominant, McCoy’s never healthy and never dominant.
….and of course, the kicker can’t make a goddamn kick to save his life, and the befuddled look on his face after the miss is what really pisses me off. We get it, you missed. Quit staring at the goal posts like somebody moved an upright on you right before the kick!
November 1st, 2016 at 8:12 am
The only reason this human point shaver is still on the roster is a craven attempt to salvage the rapidly deteriorating reputation of our lousy GM. Continuing to this loser out there only underscores the fact. It is not a football decision. It is simply selfish.
November 1st, 2016 at 8:17 am
Lmfao you know goat stands for greatest of all time??? No kobe/mamba fan I can see.
November 1st, 2016 at 8:41 am
interesting factoid JOE. Check out how the Jaguars kicker did last year on extra points… vs this year. I believe he had 7 misses, vs this year (without angerer holding) NONE. maybe he got better? if so its proof it can happen.
But maybe its something no one is thinking about.
November 1st, 2016 at 8:43 am
I even found a quote when asked about it… the Jags coach said not to blame the kicker that maybe the hold hasnt been consistent…. i will try to find a link.
November 1st, 2016 at 8:51 am
Please do DANR because nobody anywhere has said anything about the holder and I certainly don’t think that is the problem.
November 1st, 2016 at 8:56 am
Watching Barth kicking them in last night and I am still wondering why we drafted Aguayo and cut Barth so abruptly ! He was a solid kicker . Had the best % of any Buc kicker in team history .just horrible management decision. Seems to be an abundance of that here through the years . A fan from day one and I am getting awful weary of the crap this team gives us !
November 1st, 2016 at 10:04 am
@dallas
Hilarious the human point shaver!
November 1st, 2016 at 10:14 am
Connor Barth, 14-14 PAT, 11-14 FG. 25-28 overall. And we trade a 3rd and 4th for a kicker, and cut Barth. Totally unacceptable decision by our INCOMPETENT GM. We had desperate needs at DE, SS, FS, KR, WR, OLB, TE, DT when he made the bonehead trade.
November 1st, 2016 at 10:27 am
Ask yourself, would Bill Belicheck keep trotting this guy out there or would he go find a kicker off the street that can actually KICK?
November 1st, 2016 at 11:21 am
You mean the worst kicker in the NFL right, Joe? That guy?
November 1st, 2016 at 11:27 am
http://www.espn.com/blog/afcsouth/post/_/id/63691/jaguars-k-jason-myers-isnt-going-anywhere
perhaps its not the hold itself, but the attitude of the holder, too much pressure down, or an unwillingness to practice.
I think it is too much of a coincidence that a kicker would improve that drastically from one year to the other with the biggest change being the holder.
November 1st, 2016 at 11:54 am
The “holder”? C’mon dude! That’s the weakest argument for a player who has but ONE job. AND, here’s the thing, the PAT is always in the same place on the field. It’s the ONE kick he can practice over and over, like a free-throw.
I agree with gotbbucs, this team makes every facet look so difficult sometimes; fielding kick-offs, kicking PATs, hitting WIDE-OPEN WRs, blocking, rushing the passer, tackling……..
November 1st, 2016 at 12:12 pm
Why do you keep calling him “Jan Stenerud”? Stenerud is one of only a small handful of punters and kickers in the Hall of Fame. That doesn’t seem to be much of a slam to compare him to a guy whose career spanned three different decades and played nearly 20 years and ended up in the Hall of Fame. If you want to compare him to somebody, compare him to John Lee of UCLA. The kicker that the Cardinals drafted extremely high in the 2nd round in the mid 80’s and just didn’t have what it took to be an NFL player…ever. He wasn’t accurate, and his leg wasn’t strong enough… got it?
JOHN LEE
November 1st, 2016 at 12:13 pm
What you now see in Aguayo is the guy you’ll see until he gets the apple & roadmap.
He’s the Dexter Jackson of the 2016 draft.
He has the poorest mechanics I’ve even seen in a kicker and there seems to be no one working to correct them.
He’s a head case with the yips. When he steps onto the field, he’s thinking “I hope I don’t miss” instead of “this one is prime meat…”
November 1st, 2016 at 12:15 pm
“Roberto Misfire”
November 1st, 2016 at 2:46 pm
@bucsfanman i was just showing you a variable.
Same holder, and a different kicker missed 7 extra points last year.
BY FAR THE WORST last year. This year- 0 misses.
NOW he is our holder.
November 1st, 2016 at 3:17 pm
@DANR- I get what you’re saying but I still stick to my argument. He was doing the same thing with a different holder in preseason.
Look, we’re stuck with the guy for now so we can only hope he gets better. I don’t know what’s more frustrating, watching him kick or watching our “pass rush”!
November 1st, 2016 at 3:52 pm
Maybe someone could explain just exactly how Aguayo cost the Bucs the game? Was Roberto tossing all the incompletions in the second half? Was Roberto dropping all the passes in OT? Was Roberto playing DB but only standing there admiring Carr as he was making pass after pass after pass after pass?
Let me help those of you who don’t understand. No, Roberto did not affect the outcome of the game. If the Bucs had lost by a point, then you can whine. Otherwise, lighten up. There were a whole lot more goats to discuss on this team before you can place any of the blame on Roberto.
November 1st, 2016 at 6:14 pm
@Ramblingman,
It’s simple – he didn’t.
The real blame goes around between the offense (in particular Jameis), the defense, and the coaches (Dirk and Mike Smith).
November 1st, 2016 at 8:41 pm
aguayo = greatest of all time ?
perhaps he will be, but i think it is too early to tell.