The Minnesota Vikings Part Ways with Kicker Blair Walsh

Walsh is perhaps best known for his infamous missed field goal at the end of the NFC Wild Card game last year against the Seattle Seahawks. That game gave Walsh some bad publicity although the positioning of the ball may have been mostly to blame.

His career had gone nowhere but down after that game. From 2012-2015 he was a good kicker and he also made a Pro Bowl appearance in 2012.

In 2012 he made 35 field goals out of 38 attempts. He also made all 36 extra point attempts.

In 2013 he didn’t put up the same spectacular numbers from 2012, but still was an efficient kicker. He made 26 of 30 field goals and 43 of 44 extra points. Three of his missed field goals came from 50 or more yards.

2014 was a tough year for Walsh. He missed nine field goals out of 35 including three from 20-39 yards. However, he made all 29 of his extra points.

2015 was a strong year for Walsh in the regular season in regards to field goals. He made a league-leading 34 field goals while missing five. He did struggle with extra points however, as he missed four out of his 37 attempts in the first year with the newly implemented PAT rules.

After that playoff game last season, Walsh’s career took a downward spiral as he played poorly throughout this season. He has already missed four field goals in 16 tries. To add on to that, he has also continued his struggles from last season in missed extra points. He has missed four already in 19 tries. His most recent missed extra point was the nail in the coffin as he was already on the hot seat. The Vikings had worked out a handful of kickers before Sunday’s Week 10 game. Now they will have to choose one to replace Walsh for Week 11 and beyond.

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