The winds were swirling around MetLife Stadium on Monday night, and it ended up costing the Jets in their 23-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills as veteran kicker Greg Zuerlein missed a pair of second-half field goals.
With the score tied in the third quarter, Zuerlein – who had already connected on two extra points and a 22-yard field goal – lined up for a 32-yard try from the left hashmark but banked it off the left upright.
After a Buffalo punt, he had a shot at redemption to once again give the Jets a lead, but this time, kicking at the opposite end of the stadium in the fourth quarter, his 43-yard try from just inside the right hashmark drifted left and struck the left upright again.
“That bothers you as a player because you see all the hard work they put in and I’m not holding up my end of the bargain,” Zuerlein said after the game about his missed kicks. “That’s on me.”
He added: “Just not good kicking.”
Despite Zuerlein’s poor night amid a poor start to the season – after previously missing a potential game-winner from 50 yards late in the fourth quarter against Denver in Week 4 and a 45-yard attempt during a win in Week 3 – interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich gave the veteran a vote of confidence.
“Everything you take a hard look at, but I’m not concerned with Greg,” Ulbrich said. “I know the track record of this man and I know he’s gonna catch his rhythm here and we’re gonna roll.”
With the misses, the 13-year NFL veteran became the fifth kicker since 2010 to miss two field goals inside 45 yards with his team trailing by three points or less in the second half.
“Trying various things to get that fixed,” he said. “Every single day I go out there in practice and a lot of times it’s great, but gotta eliminate those bad kicks, cause they’re costing us.”
“It’s just one of those things,” Zuerlein continued, “just gotta hit a better ball.”
In the last two years, Zuerlein missed just three out of 25 kicks from 40-to-49 yards. He’s equaled that mark through six games this year needing just four attempts to do so.
“I’ve been through ups and downs, hell and back many, many times,” the 36-year-old kicker said about his career. “And right now it’s not good, it’s not good enough, because these guys in the locker room deserve to win. And they deserve to win another game this season.”
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