It amuses me how people here beg for Nick Novak to be called upon to attempt field goals for us in the playoffs, when he has never even attempted a postseason kick in the NFL and last season he couldn’t even handle the “pressure” of a regular season home game against Denver. That’s like taking a blind date to your senior prom – it could turn out real well, but then again, it may not and the odds of a really great result are not in your favor… The only thing Nick Novak does better than Nate Kaeding is kick off, but unless Nick can get us a touchback on every single attempt, then our coverage teams neutralize that strength. It’s not like he’s going to “Forrest Gump” his way all through the regular season, but then all of a sudden turn into Stephen Gostkowski once we get into the playoffs…
I would classify a divisional round playoff game on the road against the defending Superbowl Champions, an AFC Championship Game on the road against an undefeated team, a Wild Card game at home against a 12 win team & a divisional round game on the road at Pittsburg all as “Important NFL Games” and if I recall correctly, Kaeding kicked very “accurately” during all of those postseason games.
See my above post – for good measure, I’ll also add in the 52 yard kick he made against Cincinnati in a late December game, which won the division for us and assured a playoff bye week for us. If a postseason berth for the Chargers is going to come down to successfully converting on a 50+ yard attempt, I would prefer Nate Kaeding be making that attempt vice Nick Novak. As painfully evidenced by last year, if you can’t make certain attempts in the regular season, then you never even get a chance or the opportunity to “choke” in the playoffs and I’d rather roll the dice with Nate in the postseason anytime, as opposed to watching the playoffs at home with Nick.
I’d actually prefer that, as opposed to another starter that we’re counting on for a big season getting hurt in a meaningless preseason game officiated by inexperienced replacement referees… Rivers & Meachem will eventually find their groove, and we’ve got enough other offensive threats to get it done until those two really start to click.
I feel more confident with Novak in the playoffs. keading has lost the games for us. When it comes to the playoffs, keading failed when we played the Jets and since then he never had the confidence that he could be the 'hero'
Based on what exactly? We’ve all seen Nate kick in postseason games, and he’s made more attempts than he’s missed. We’ve seen Kaeding kick in playoff games with a broken leg & succeed, but what exactly have you seen from Nick Novak that convinces you that he would succeed in the harsh glare that is the NFL postseason? The “piss game” against Denver is an indictment against Novak IMO, because the pressure was on in overtime and he had a chance to win it for us and could not, and honestly, how often is Nate Kaeding going to miss 2 attempts in a regular season game? If you’re talking about the overtime game against NYJ in Nate’s rookie season, then your theory fails as evidenced by the “confidence” & competence he displayed while kicking 6 consecutive postseason field goals over the span of 3 playoff games (would’ve been 7 in a row in 4 playoff games, had he not hit the upright from 49 yards out at Indy) after his disappointing misses against the Jets in 2004 & the Patriots in 2006, and if you’re referring to the disaster against the Jets following the 2009 season, I would submit that Kaeding has not yet had another chance to be the hero since then, due in large part to the fact that we missed the postseason in consecutive seasons and he missed an entire year due to an injury suffered in Week 1 of last season, opening the door for Nick Novak to be given an opportunity as our placekicker for the year. He did respectably well, but he didn’t do anything to give me the confidence that he would be any better than Nate in the playoffs, especially after the overtime loss to Denver in which he missed 2 kicks.
the kicks that Keading made where not pressure moments. The ones he missed were pressure moments with a few minutes left. I think it is obvious that Keading is not 0-for-12(including extra points) in the play-offs. His average is lower in the playoffs than the regular season. He is 8-15 in the playoffs. But if you like those stats and you feel comfortable with them than just make sure you keep your fingers and toes crossed, wear your lucky hat, tithe 20%, don't step on any cracks, watch out for black cats and knock on wood.
Kaeding has never kicked a game winner in the playoffs. Ever. He has had 3 (one of them admittedly very slim) opportunities to win or tie a game in the closing minutes of a game or in OT. He missed every shot. Please stop pretending that Kaeding is clutch in the playoffs.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/k/kaedinat01/gamelog/post/ Why is this still an argument?
its not an argument. The facts that you presented that in pressure games Keading will always make the XPA but when he has a FGA he sucks.
Really? Based on what exactly? Any postseason attempt, in a game in which points are often scarce and losing ends your entire season can be considered a pressure moment. I especially highlight his going 4 for 4 in New England, with a trip to the Superbowl on the line when Philip, LT & Gates were all injured and Nate was the only Chargers player to score a point in the game, yet he kept us in it & real close until midway through the 4th Quarter. Did he not feel pressure that day, knowing that even 1 miss could take us out of the game early? Not the one he missed at Indy when he hit the upright, that was in the 1st half. Besides, what about the one he made against Indy in 2008 to tie our playoff game, that was in the very situation that you describe as a “pressure moment” (less than 2:00 remaining, where a missed attempt equals a loss) and he made that one, setting up Darren Sproles’ overtime heroics – let me guess, that one doesn’t count because it wasn’t from 45+ yards out, right? So is Philip Rivers’ touchdown to interception ratio, and he gets a lot more attempts & chances to affect the outcome of games than Nate Kaeding ever does. With that said, they both need to improve their performance in the playoffs if we are to get to where we desire to go as a team & city. I feel far more comfortable with the known entity that is Nate Kaeding in the postseason, where he has succeeded more than he has failed, than I would with the unknown entity that is currently Nick Novak in that same situation – after all, if he’ll piss himself in a regular season overtime pressure cooker, how exactly do you know that he won’t simply shoot diarrhea right down his leg in an even higher pressure playoff game?
Not true, he didn’t miss in his lone opportunity to tie our Wild Card game in the closing minutes against the Colts in 2008 now, did he? Didn’t think so…
Great, now let’s see Nick Novak’s – that’s right, it doesn’t even exist! The reason this is still an argument is because those are currently our only 2 options at placekicker, unless someone here can get Robert Kraft & Bill Belicheck really drunk and persuade them to trade Gostkowski to us… I’ve already disproved that theory with a few “inconvenient” but easily recallable historical facts, what else have you got?
Lancer I think you are the only 1 playing your 'disaproved' theory's . Knock yourself out and have a good time playing with yourself and arguing with yourself. Moving on!!
Like you had a choice – the facts & statistics just don’t support your opinion on this topic, they support mine which is why my argument is so easy to make.
You're wrong, I agree with Lancer 1, I just don't really want to get into a cyber argument. Life is way too short to argue with someone on line and I have much better things to do. In my backyard
You're right. He didn't miss his lone opportunity to tie our WC game against the Colts in 2008 with a 26 yard field goal. I guess Kaeding is indeed unbelievably clutch, as long as the distance of the kick is within 10 yds of being a PAT. Great contention on what constitutes clutchness.
Ah, welcome back to the lame “distance” argument, because you don’t want to admit that Nate Kaeding came through in just the kind of pressure situation that you claim he could not. What you stated was: and I reminded you that he had not, so you try to discount Kaeding’s accomplishment simply because it was a short kick. You’re trying to have it both ways, and you can’t. Since you’re so concerned with distance though, what say you about the 52 yard field goal that Nate hit against Cincinnati with :08 left in the game, to win the AFCW title for San Diego & secure the #2 seed with it’s corresponding bye week in the playoffs, does that not count simply because it was in the regular season? It was exactly the kind of situation that many describe as “clutch” and summarily claim that Kaeding always fails in, and every time you or other critics are reminded of his successes in those opportunies, you try to dismiss it using some tired excuse. By the way, NYJ’s Doug Brien beat us with a 28 yard field goal in that overtime playoff game in 2004, but people don’t discount that achievement simply because it was a short attempt, they rightfully credit him with kicking a field goal in overtime to win a postseason game.
I'm sorry, Cincinatti wasn't a single-elimination playoff game. Also, you're continuing to fail to understand what the word "clutch" means. Kicking a PAT doesn't make you clutch, it's your job. Blowing it makes you a moron, kicking it makes you someone who fulfilled expectations. 40+ yard field goals in pressure situations are significantly different from a 27 yard figgy because over the 40 feet of difference, a poorly kicked ball has a lot more room to change its flight path, which necessarily results in a greater degree of difficulty. This is why distance is relevant. Kaeding has never demonstrated himself to be a clutch kicker in a pressure situation in the playoffs. Everyone knows that he's the most accurate regular season kicker of all time, but who cares?
0-3 against the JETS http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/chargers/2010-08-23-nate-kaeding-rebound_N.htm
most of his misses come in the 2nd half and 4th quarter http://www.nfl.com/player/natekaeding/2505937/situationalstats?season=2008
he is a sure bet up to 29 yards away but when he gets 30+ is where he struggles http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/players/playerpage/492980/nate-kaeding
another good read http://bleacherreport.com/articles/328167-do-we-annoint-kickers-as-great-players-too-early
he struggles at distance. With this offense getting close to the endzone and scoring the way it does short FGAs favor him. http://www.chargers.com/team/roster/Nate-Kaeding/4ac961d2-0787-41ea-b680-910f6eacfcaa
From 30-39 yards, Nate has missed 3 kicks in 8 years. Hardly what I'd call struggling from 30+. It's 4o yards and beyond where his accuracy drops. We all know he doesn't have a strong leg, but he is more accurate than most.
I wouldn't contend that his accuracy is range dependent, I would say that his accuracy in clutch situations in the playoffs is.
