Cairo Santos had the big game against the Bengals, knocking in 7 field goals – one short of the NFL record. But does this mean that we should now think of Santos as a top-5 kicker? Or is this simply a case of a pretty ordinary kicker lucking into a career day?
I tend to think it’s more of the latter.
In this century, 35 kickers have had games of at least 18 points. Of that group, only 7 came back the next week and again scored in double figures. So only 20 percent had another big game in their next one.
If a player is to score 7 points, that’s kind of average. You score 7 in all 16 games, and it gets you to 112 in a season. So note that in this group of 35 high-scoring kickers, only 10 in their following game was an above-average scorer.
Twenty of those same kickers, on the other hand, didn’t even score 7 points – definitely below average.
I do not see Santos as much of a big deal for fantasy purposes. I like the matchup this week, however (home against the Bears) so I have no problem rolling with him in Week 5.
| HIGH-SCORING KICKERS IN NEXT GAME | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Opponent | Pts |
| 2000 | Wilkins, St.L. | Atl. 45-29 | 1 |
| 2000 | Andersen, Atl. | at Den. 14-42 | 2 |
| 2000 | Hollis, Jac. | Cin. 13-0 | 7 |
| 2001 | Akers, Phil. | Wash. 3-13 | 3 |
| 2002 | Peterson, Pitt. | Hou. 6-24 | 6 |
| 2002 | Feely, Atl. | at Clev. 16-24 | 10 |
| 2003 | Cundiff, Dall. | at NYJ 17-6 | 5 |
| 2003 | Chandler, S.F. | at St.L. 24-27 | 6 |
| 2004 | Kasay, Car. | St.L. 20-7 | 8 |
| 2004 | Vinatieri, N.E. | Buff. 29-6 | 17 |
| 2005 | Feely, NYG | at S.F. 24-6 | 6 |
| 2005 | Rackers, Ariz. | Car. 20-24 | 8 |
| 2006 | Anderson, Atl. | NYG 14-27 | 2 |
| 2006 | Dawson, Clev. | at Atl. 17-13 | 5 |
| 2006 | Wilkins, St.L. | at S.F. 13-20 | 7 |
| 2007 | Scobee, Jac. | at Ind. 25-28 | 5 |
| 2007 | Bironas, Ten. | Oak. 13-9 | 7 |
| 2007 | Graham, Cin. | Ariz. 27-35 | 9 |
| 2008 | Lindell, Buff. | S.F. 3-10 | 3 |
| 2010 | Scobee, Jac. | Ten. 3-30 | 3 |
| 2010 | Feely, Ariz. | at Car. 12-19 | 6 |
| 2010 | Kaeding, S.D. | Oak. 13-28 | 7 |
| 2010 | Mare, Sea. | at N.O. 19-34 | 13 |
| 2011 | Janikowski, Oak. | at Mia. 14-34 | 2 |
| 2011 | Bailey, Dall. | Det. 30-34 | 12 |
| 2012 | Succop, K.C. | S.D. 20-37 | 2 |
| 2012 | Tynes, NYG | at Phil. 17-19 | 5 |
| 2012 | Walsh, Minn. | at Hou. 23-6 | 11 |
| 2013 | Tucker, Balt. | N.E. 7-41 | 1 |
| 2013 | Bailey, Dall. | at Wash. 24-23 | 6 |
| 2013 | Henery, Phil. | at T.B. 31-20 | 7 |
| 2014 | Bullock, Hou. | Jac. 23-17 | 3 |
| 2014 | Brown, NYG | Wash. 24-13 | 6 |
| 2014 | Gostkowski, N.E. | at Buff. 37-22 | 13 |
| 2014 | Parkey, Phil. | at Dall. 33-10 | 15 |
| 2015 | Santos, K.C. | vs. Chicago | ? |
—Ian Allan

