Agreed. I'm not sold on Carney either. He missed a gimmee too. I'd take Stover over Brown. Even the 50+ yarder he missed against us in the Super Bowl had the distance. He's still pretty accurate from 45 and in.
Payton is sticking with him (at least that's what he is telling the media). I can't see how he can, given the troubles we had in 08 that cost us games. Payton has no stomach for it, but appears he does with Hartley. I hope we get someone this week (Stover or Brown) and move forward. We can't afford any more losses due to kicking. The Carney miss vs Arizona cost us a 23 all score with our defense playing great. We would have won that game, most likely.
I'm dumbfounded, but will not 2nd guess him. However, Hartley has to be on a really short rope. He's kicking at about a 53% clip, which just doesn't get it in the NFL. Teams are too even and points are at a premium. He'd better go on a little run and make his next 5 or so. Even if he does go on a run, the next one he missed better not cost us either or I have to believe he's gone.
It's the old sophomore jinx. He'll come around. It's messing with his head right now. And Carney is only good from 40 yards in. He doesn't have any power left.
The only saving grace in all of this is that ALL of his misses are pull hooks. He's not spraying the ball as you see most kickers do when they are in a funk. So it is correctable. I just don't want to wait til we lose another game to see him fix it.
