Tampa Bay is going back to Patrick Murray (left, in photo) at kicker. They could never get Roberto Aguayo going, and Nick Folk has been dreadful the last two weeks, playing a big role in the loss to the Patriots, so it was time for a change.
Again. The Bucs have been struggling with kickers for years. It’s a position that’s haunted them for years.
In each of the last three seasons, Tampa Bay has ranked no better than 30th in field goal accuracy.
Over the last 15 years, they ranked higher than 15th in field goal accuracy only once.
BUCS FIELD GOAL ACCURACY SINCE 2003 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Year | FG | FGA | Pct | Rank |
2003 | 16 | 26 | .615 | 31 |
2004 | 15 | 24 | .625 | 31t |
2005 | 22 | 27 | .815 | 15 |
2007 | 28 | 33 | .848 | 16 |
2008 | 32 | 38 | .842 | 18 |
2009 | 16 | 26 | .615 | 32 |
2010 | 23 | 28 | .821 | 17t |
2011 | 26 | 28 | .929 | 2 |
2012 | 28 | 33 | .848 | 16 |
2013 | 23 | 29 | .793 | 26 |
2014 | 20 | 24 | .833 | 18t |
2015 | 29 | 40 | .725 | 30 |
2016 | 22 | 31 | .710 | 32 |
2017 | 6 | 11 | .545 | 30 |
No surprise, therefore, that over the last 15 years the Bucs have been the worst field goal team in the league, converting just 77 percent.
FIELD GOAL ACCURACY SINCE 2003 | |||
---|---|---|---|
Team | FG | FGA | Pct |
Indianapolis | 349 | 399 | .875 |
New England | 389 | 445 | .874 |
Seattle | 362 | 418 | .866 |
Baltimore | 409 | 477 | .857 |
NY Giants | 346 | 405 | .854 |
Tennessee | 340 | 400 | .850 |
Chargers | 344 | 406 | .847 |
Pittsburgh | 373 | 441 | .846 |
Atlanta | 353 | 418 | .844 |
Cleveland | 333 | 395 | .843 |
Cincinnati | 344 | 409 | .841 |
Philadelphia | 377 | 449 | .840 |
Minnesota | 334 | 398 | .839 |
Arizona | 332 | 397 | .836 |
Denver | 352 | 421 | .836 |
San Francisco | 358 | 430 | .833 |
Carolina | 351 | 422 | .832 |
Detroit | 330 | 397 | .831 |
Buffalo | 339 | 408 | .831 |
Dallas | 333 | 402 | .828 |
Rams | 351 | 426 | .824 |
Oakland | 343 | 417 | .823 |
NY Jets | 359 | 437 | .822 |
Houston | 354 | 432 | .819 |
Green Bay | 343 | 422 | .813 |
Miami | 319 | 393 | .812 |
Kansas City | 321 | 398 | .807 |
Chicago | 320 | 398 | .804 |
Jacksonville | 310 | 389 | .797 |
Washington | 340 | 429 | .793 |
New Orleans | 310 | 392 | .791 |
Tampa Bay | 315 | 408 | .772 |
So it’s back to Patrick Murray. At 5-foot-7, he’s the shortest player in the league at this position.
He was serviceable kicker for them in 2014, hitting 20 of 24 field goals (that’s 83 percent – just below average that year). But he lost out to Kyle Brindza the following season. They ended up releasing Brindza after a month, going back to Connor Barth.
Murray was the opening-day kicker for the Browns a year ago, making 1 of 2 field goals, but he suffered a knee injury in their second game, causing them to switch to Cody Parkey. Now he’s back in the league – at least for now.
The Bucs have good offense that’s potentially could be kicker friendly. That is, if Murray can make his kicks, he could be a top-10 scorer at this position. But that hasn’t tended to happen in Tampa.
—Ian Allan