A 74-Yard Field Goal?
September 8th, 2015
New Bucs kicker Kyle Brindza (left). Photo courtesy of Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Bucs have a special new kicker.
Undrafted rookie Kyle Brindza has range and luck. What a combination!
Without kickers Patrick Murray and Connor Barth tanking their preseason shots, Brindza isn’t wearing a Bucs uniform today.
As for the range, well, Lovie Smith says he is happy to have a kicker who is a kickoff specialist with “special” talent.
Chatting with Joe and other media in the locker room yesterday, Brindza said he’s kicked field goals of 65+ in practice with a holder, and 74 yards “with the sticks,” aka a plastic holder.
74 yards!?
In game terms, that means the ball was placed at a team’s own 36 yard line with the line of scrimmage about the 43.
Joe and other loyal Bucs fans remember the sweetness of Matt Bryant’s walk-off, 62-yard field goal in 2006. It was a sweet moment — against the hated Eagles — in a very sour season.
There’s no question in Joe’s mind Lovie would let Brindza fire away if necessary. Sundays opener very well might come down to a final kick. The Bucs and Titans are a pretty even matchup on paper.
September 8th, 2015 at 2:35 pm
It’s a mixed blessing with a conservative coach….sometimes you don’t need to settle for the field goal and having a kicker with great potential distance can change the playcalling.
But….I’d rather have the kicker with the leg than not.
The great thing about Brindza is that he is also a very good punter and that could come in handy….a fake field goal from a long distance with a punt could work well….or punting after a bad snap….and we’ve seen a few of those.
September 8th, 2015 at 2:42 pm
TBBFan – All good points. Plus, can fill in should our punter get hurt. I like to see those kickoffs go thru the zone. I suspect he will be a big contributor this year. A really nice pick up.
September 8th, 2015 at 3:06 pm
I hear that a lot of kickers can make these sorts of really long kicks in practice but they can never be done in a game because the angle required for the ball would make it easily blockable.
September 8th, 2015 at 3:37 pm
Brindzilla!!!!!
September 8th, 2015 at 3:40 pm
74 yards? My BS-meter is hitting a new high.
September 8th, 2015 at 4:06 pm
Regardless of his maximum range, he will score more points for us than Tim Wright would have. Good trade!
September 8th, 2015 at 4:09 pm
I don’t think it is BS. He said he kicked it off the sticks. I have seen multiple kickers kick from kickoff and it go through the uprights at the start of a half and that is from the 35 so it would be 75 yards.
September 8th, 2015 at 4:13 pm
some positive news
September 8th, 2015 at 4:14 pm
I also doubt very much that it is BS…
He probably had players/coaches watching….and it would be a collosal mistake to BS something like that at the beginning of a career.
Tom….you need to ease up on the negativity…..
September 8th, 2015 at 4:15 pm
now once he can kick and make it from our 14, special teams will be prepared for Lovie’s offense of two 3 yard dive plays, a false start and an incompletion.
September 8th, 2015 at 4:16 pm
A powerful leg is a fantastic weapon, and can create potential scoring opportunities when applied properly. I for one am excited for the new option to our team. Good luck Kyle! As Ray Jay said, he should easily outscore Tim Wright!
September 8th, 2015 at 4:18 pm
Roger Goodell going to send the “Piss Man” from Playmaker if Brindza keep talking about making 74 yards field goals. jk.
September 8th, 2015 at 4:28 pm
Those 56 & 57 yarders vs. the Dolphins
made me take him in our FFL Draft
It is funny because CBS Sports still does not even recognize him yet
I took a “Flyer” on him because it is a not for pay league but
5 point 50 plus yard field goals are and i think that the BUCS will be attempting a bunch of those this year
September 8th, 2015 at 4:33 pm
Both field goals Brindza made in the Miami pre-season game (57 and 55 yards) would have easily been made field goals from 65 yards.
Consistency is more important IMO than leg strength when it comes to an NFL kicker. I’d rather have a kicker who is $ from 25-47 yards but only has a realistic max range of 52 than one who is capable of kicking a 70 yarder but misses more than they should.
Barth is an 85% field goal kicker over a 6 year career in the NFL. It’s hard to do much better than that. He also had good range up to about 60 yards max and made 65% on all attempts 50+ yards for his career as well. Made 15 out of 16 attempts for Denver last year.
I’m not saying Brindza is gonna suck or that they made the wrong choice here – I’m just saying that Barth is a very SOLID FG kicker throughout his career and if the new guy starts missing important kicks – then there’s gonna be a lot of questioning of this decision.
Hopefully Brendza will excel and be very accurate AND have power that is ‘special’. We shall see. He sure looked good on the 2 kicks vs Miami and was booming the kickoffs. Barth’s lone kickoff in that game went 8 yards deep – but he is known for shorter kickoffs. This is likely why he didn’t win the job – + he missed in pre-season as well.
We shall see how it works out.
Maybe the Lions will cut Tim Wright – so we can pick him up and trade him again for another starting player… LOL
September 8th, 2015 at 4:40 pm
……..must be a slow day for you Joe
……to be writing about kickers??????
September 8th, 2015 at 4:55 pm
74 yards in practice.
Take it with a grain of salt. I bet the launch angle for that was low enough to be easily blocked.
September 8th, 2015 at 4:57 pm
^this, the shaz
September 8th, 2015 at 5:00 pm
Talk about being able to kick under some pressure….
Your competition is Connor Barth…..they send you out in the only game remaining and you nail 57 then a 55 yard kick….I’d say that qualifies.
September 8th, 2015 at 5:01 pm
The kicker is important for all the reasons mentioned. Have to have a good FG kicker because Lovie likely will be sending him out expecting the three points often.
September 8th, 2015 at 5:08 pm
Licht is on fire!
Go Bucs!!!
September 8th, 2015 at 5:09 pm
A straight line drive is different than the trajectory you have to take with lineman.
September 8th, 2015 at 5:25 pm
Joe that Matt Bryant field gold was indeed one of the nicest moments I had in Raymond James. I never forget I was in the middle of a heated argument with a POS eggle fan and reminding him of the shelaking the Bucs put on them in the last game at the Vet, and next thing you know Bryant kick that dandy of a field goal and the guy just got up and walked away without saying a word. Oh and BTW Joe I later saw him throwing up all over himself as I walked out of Ray Jay. I just hope Bryndza can give us all Bucs fans a few memories like Bryant did that day.
September 8th, 2015 at 5:34 pm
We may win a game or 2 more than we would have with Brindza kicking. As for the consistency argument made by Pickgrin, Barth was not very consistent in preseason and that is why he lost the job. I like Barth but he was not looking like the Barth of old. 2 teams passed on him this preseason for a reason. Brindza has a very strong leg and at least to this point has shown to be fairly accurate as well. He will of course miss some but I like the small sample size that I saw. There was just too many missed FG’s and PAT’s by Barth and Murray to not get a reliable kicker on the roster. Also like TBBF has mentioned, he can also punt if needed.
September 8th, 2015 at 5:36 pm
Look…do you think he’ll actually be called upon to kick a 74 yd field goal? Who cares what the trajectory was?? He didn’t say he did it in a game. He didn’t say anything other than he kicked a 74 yd. field goal off of the plastic tee. Now all of a sudden the negative posters, the usual suspects, start saying the guy is full of #@IT. Do you guys ever watch kickoffs and see them go through the uprights? It does happen occasionally. He just said he did it on purpose. No need to comment other than to say “strong leg”.
September 8th, 2015 at 5:39 pm
The game often comes down to long field goals for the win. It’s one of the most exciting parts of the game.
September 8th, 2015 at 5:59 pm
Buc1987… it is exciting to win a game with a field goal, the longer the kick the more exciting.
September 8th, 2015 at 6:11 pm
No fan wanted Barth to win the job more than me. I know him, he’s from my home town and is a fantastic guy……but, I’m more of a Buc fan than a Barth fan….so let the best man win.
I do think Barth has lost some from perhaps the injury or aging…I wish him the best and think someone will still give him a shot.
Now that we have our guy….let’s support him.
All he did was answer the questions he was asked…he wasn’t bragging and qualified his answers. Those that want to make something negative about that do it with almost every post on every subject….very sad!!!
September 8th, 2015 at 7:24 pm
Considering how many games this yeam has lost by 3 points or less in the last two years….id say this guy may be attempting a decent amount of 70 yard field goals while hes on this team. He will also become the highest paid kicker in the league if he can do it on a regular basis. Pretty sad when yhe mvp of your entire team is the kicker but if it wins us games I will take it!
September 8th, 2015 at 7:45 pm
Wow talk about a case of premature excitement!!! Here I was jacked because we signed an OC famous for his vertical passing game. Then we draft the most exciting QB to come out in a long long time. I didn’t say best, JW has to prove that…but the dude is a swashbuckling exciting let er rip kinda guy.
And just when I think we’re going to be really, really exciting…no more Dungy/Lovie/Gruden pound the rock and win with FG’s and DEFENSE what does fate conspire to do to me?
As much as I’m ready for some excitement I gotta say that the first half of this year JW gets to continue to learn as Koetter and Lovie pound the rock with Martin…use an improving defense to remain in every game…and then steal some at the end with Brindza’s strong leg. Not my favorite style of play but I concede it’s what gives us the best chance at a W..at least for the time being.
September 8th, 2015 at 10:19 pm
I believe it. Those 50+ traders he hit the other night were dead center and clearing by a ton
September 8th, 2015 at 11:33 pm
You see the thighs on that boy??? Could be possible. Kickers are usually scrawny this kid looks beefy.
September 9th, 2015 at 1:12 pm
As a Norte dame and Tampa bay bucs fan I am truly displeased with brindza actually getting the job in Tampa, in most critical situations he often missed to a point where I feel like it affected play calling after mid season… He was a player I was happy to see leave the team… Practice and game time is very different things. I am far from a believer that he will last thru the season. Until I am proved wrong this season I will remain thinking we just cut decent kickers that cost for cheap trash smh =(
September 9th, 2015 at 1:13 pm
We definitely got ourselves a kicker. Worth the trade , grab tim wright and use him as trade bait. We’ve got enough t- ends. The new janakowski.