Alex Henery's struggles against the Saints both kicking field goals and getting deep kickoffs were a microcosm for his 2013 and the reason the Eagles likely will move in a new direction. (Image courtesy of Philly.com)
The frigid temperatures of Lambeau Field didn't seem to impact kickers Phil Dawson or Mason crosby on Sunday afternoon.
In spite of temperatures in the single digits and wind chills plummeting deeper than 20 degrees below zero, the kickers for the San Francisco 49ers and Green Bay Packers respectively each made kicks from 33 and 34 yards with plenty of distance to carry had they needed them to.
Contrast those performances in cold weather against Eagles kicker Alex Henery's struggles Saturday evening to even kick the ball out of the end zone on a kickoff along with his ugly missed 48-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter and his explanation for his struggles holds less weight than it did when the words were first muttered in the Lincoln Financial Field locker room just before midnight Sunday.
“The ball is not going to travel as far on a cold day,” said Henery, who later made a 31-yard field goal in the fourth quarter. “There’s no excuse – just miss something like that. I have to be better there, help the team out. It just shows that every point matters in a game like this.”
Henery's wrong.
Dawson and Crosby proved that point less than eight hours later.
However, Saturday night's performance does nothing but typify Henery's struggles with both distance and accuracy all season long.
The third-year kicker who finished his collegiate career at Nebraska as college football's most accurate kicker has been anything but recently. This season Henery was 23rd in the league in accuracy, making just 82 percent of his kicks. Further, on kicks that were of 40-49 yards he finished the season just 7-10, or 70 percent.
Henery's woes went well beyond missed field goals.
It's evident that head coach Chip Kelly did not have much faith in Henery's ability to even kick the ball out of the end zone on kickoffs this season, and perhaps rightfully so.
Even in the mile high air of Denver, Henery was unable to reach the back of the end zone and allowed a 100-plus-yard kickoff return for a touchdown which likely played a role in Kelly's decision against Minnesota-in a dome-to pooch kick all afternoon and surrender field position rather than kick to Cordarrelle Patterson who earlier this season ran a kickoff back 110 yards.
Those decisions combined with Henery's inconsistency is exactly why I asked the head coach in the aftermath of Saturday's playoff elimination how much confidence he has in Henery.
“We’ll address that moving forward,” Kelly replied. “We’re not playing a game tomorrow.”
Thanks for the none-answer, coach, but your actions speak volumes where your words do not.
The point here is that if the Eagles truly intend to take the next level and shore up deficiencies heading into the offseason, adding a kicker who can be relied on must be at or near the top of their wish list.
New Orleans picked up Shayne Graham in mid-December, and teams can find free-agent kickers throughout the season and it likely won't be hard to find a replacement for Henery.
Matt Lombardo is the Editor-In-Chief of Eagledelphia and also an on-air personality on 97.5 FM The Fanatic in Philadelphia. Join the conversation and follow Matt on Twitter.
