Saints kicker Will Lutz was called for a pair of long field goals late in Sunday’s game against the Vikings, and he thought he hit them both with all the power in his legs.
Lutz’s first attempt was good from 60 yards to tie the Vikings in the fourth quarter, but Minnesota made a field goal of its own. The Saints were able to position themselves for one last try and Lutz’s 61-yarder at the final whistle looked like it would send the game all the way to overtime. It then went off the upright and over the crossbar before falling to the turf.
After the 28-25 loss, Lutz said he wouldn’t have changed a thing about the operation on the second kick.
“Honestly, it was the same two kicks,” Lutz said, via the team’s website. “Unfortunately, the second had one more yard than the first. I thought they were both inside. I hit both on the screw, played right-third, knowing the ball was going to slide a little left. The other moved a little further to the left. Kind of shocked. It’s disappointing.”
Losing on bad bounces is frustrating, and the Saints need to do more to make sure their games don’t come down to field goals in the final seconds if they don’t want to risk that happening again.
