Tampa Bay Bucs’ placekicker Kyle Brindza is tied for 29th in the NFL when it comes to accuracy, but head coach Lovie Smith says he still has confidence in him going into this week’s game against Carolina.
“He’s responded well,” Smith said. “When you have a game like that you go out to the practice field and you start trying to get it through the goal posts. In practice he’s hit every one this week. That’s about all you can do until you get, of course, to the stadium.”
Brindza missed three field goals and an extra point against Houston, making it one of the worst kicking days in Bucs’ history. But the Bucs traded with Detroit for his rights, and they are not willing to give up on him.
Every once in a while you have games like that,” Smith said. “That’s one game. That’s not defining him. If we get an opportunity to kick field goals I won’t hesitate at all.”
Brindza blamed his woes on a failure to follow through.
“This is where you crack under pressure or you make a diamond,” Brindza told ESPN this week.
“I’m fine,” said Brindza. “I just have to follow through a little bit. The next kick is the most important kick. I just have to lean on myself and on my attitude and my confidence.”
If the Bucs are to have an outside chance to upset the Panthers, they can’t afford to have a lot of points drift wide. Brindza can’t afford it, either. A coach might give a kicker a pass after one game; he is unlikely to do it twice.
