DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Special Teams really, really matter!

News flash for you.

Zane Gonzales is not Phil Dawson.

Shocking, I know.

WOOOAHHHHHH! Penalty, offense, conduct unbecoming of the leader of the Isle of Optimism. 15 yard penalty. Automatic first down.

Nah. Not three years. He won't get long if this continues, but he just wasn't bad last year. Like I said, he nailed his kicks at a solid percentage. It's a rough start to this year, but I've no interest in just grabbing some dude off the street. I'd hope we give him a little time because he's certainly talented.

If we cut all the young players making mistakes, we wouldn't have a team anymore. Like I said, Gonzalez has had more issues with people blocking for his kicks than he has with nailing them. Too soon to cast him off.

I feel bad for the guy, but he's done.


He will resurface somewhere.

Wouldn't be shy about a coaching change with the ST units if thought to be necessary. They're pretty putrid as a whole.

I know. I literally just pointed out that Gonzalez is actually a better kicker at this stage of his career than Dawson was at his stage of the year.

Let none of us front like the kid missing kicks back then was clearly going to become Mr. 84% over the course of a long, brilliant career.

If this forum existed back then (DID IT!?), people would have been begging for him to get cut too.

Many....I mean many complained he had a weak leg.

Um, another News Flash for you.

Whataboutism doesnt really mean anything in football.

You either do your job or you dont, and get cut.

This dude is looking at getting cut if they can find a replacement.
Because no way you put a team on the field with zero kicking game.

Phil Dawson, you mean the guy who wanted too much money so the Browns let him go and we ended up with Gonzalez?

Look, this is a game the Browns would've won if they had any kind of a kicker. How will Gonzalez react next week if he misses a PAT and hear's the boos from fans?

I still say cut him now and send a message that this kind of crap that happened today will no longer be tolerated.

We won't ever know... Gonzalez won't ever be on the Browns field again as a Cleveland Brown.

The newsflash is that whataboutism is gravely important because it's actually learning from experience, and understanding precedence.

The kid does his job. He just didn't get it done this time. Isn't the first, and won't be the last. We're never going to get a kicker who doesn't have bad days. We can't just cut every player who has a bad game.

And, as I've shown in the other thread, this is the first time anyone could reasonably say that Gonzalez has cost the Browns a game.

Bringing in a kicker on a short week just feels wrong. It's a recipe for disaster. Actually, that's EXACTLY what happened to Cody Parkey in his infamous game against Miami in 2016.



It isn't so easy to suggest that bringing in a random new kicker is going to fix anything.

He will be, even though I think he should be cut I'm not the GM. He will still be the Browns kicker next week.

Would you be saying the same thing had Ward given up 3 TD passes?


I am not against going with a new kicker. I am just saying.

I get it, you win as a team and lose as a team. But Gonzalez was a big part of this loss.

I cant argue with delusional people and win. Because there is no winning over crazy.

Yes. Let me pet your hair and kiss your forehead. Sure, Gonzales is gonna be Dawson someday.

Meanwhile...

Loser gets his ass cut next week.

... thanks dawg .. i needed a laugh ... today was tough ... that dumb ass ghost from the factory of sadess reared its ugly head once again ..

Your gonna need extra help starting next thursday .... i hope your ready down under dawg ...

Evidently. I'll pass on the kiss. Have a good one.

I just don't understand how a pro kicker can miss 2 PATs and keep their job. Then, just in case there was any doubt in anyone's mind, he misses that kick before the last one.

The very last kick would've been a tough one for anybody. It could've been his redemption, but he missed that too.

He was. I am not sticking up for him as much as it may sound, but I do feel bad for him and his family. I mean, he didn't try to miss kicks. At least I don't think he did.


Kicker is a strange position. You either win games or lose games. You do or don't, and many of those trys are at games end.

I won't be upset if we go a different way, I won't be upset if we decide to stick with him.

j/c...

Wonderful.

Dan Bailey is waiting for the “right team”
Posted by Mike Florio on September 16, 2018, 5:48 PM EDT

Rarely is ever has a kicker been trending on Twitter without even attempting a kick. But with so many kickers missing kicks on Sunday and with former Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey available, his name has been near the top of the stack for the last few hours.

So what’s next for Bailey? Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Bailey is waiting for the “right team.” He has, per the source, turned down four “very good offers,” and more calls have been made to his agent based on Sunday’s outcomes.

The Vikings, who gave the job to rookie draft pick Daniel Carlson, could be the right place for Bailey. The team has the offense and defense to contend, but with Carlson missing three field goals on Sunday, they definitely need to upgrade. Bailey is the second-most accurate kicker in NFL history, and he could be the most logical candidate to join the Vikings.

Link

i've never seen a worse performance by a kicker in my life

come on over! come on over baby

I don't think what the kid did in college plays any part in what's going on with him today in the NFL.

Can anyone here say that when it was time at the end of the game for Gonzalez to kick the 52 yarder ... and when you saw him on the sideline before and then warming up for the kick ... did anyone actually have any belief that he'd make it??? I know I was desperately wanting him to make it but I know that I was expecting the guy to miss. He missed right instead of left - that was the only surprise.

I knew he was going to miss right. It was inevitable that a guy who misses 3 kicks left will want to overcompensate,

yeah, like me on the golf course ... slice, slice ... HOOK

That’s the Browns, always setting world records for the wrong reasons!

We need to convince Jim Tressel to be part of our coaching staff, he would clean that up

Special teams

I was SURE he was going to hit that last kick. I thought this was his redemption story. We might have still lost in OT, but I would have bet money that last kick was going in. Oh well, that's why I don't gamble on pro sports.

I know nobody wants to talk about it and we'll never know what would have happened, but........if he had made that last XP, would we have won the game? Brees moves the ball down the field with crazy ease and they nailed that kick. Maybe that was our defense feeling deflated, but we could have held them, forced a punt and tried to win it. As much as I like our defense, even if he hit that XP, I'd have bet we'd have lost by two instead of three.

I'm not defending Zane. He's probably out of a job and that sucks for him and us, because we have to find a new kicker which won't be easy. Our kicking game will probably be a problem the rest of the season.

Three hours ago I wanted him dead- oops, I meant to say 'cut' - lol, but I can understand us, on a short week giving him another shot. He best be kicking it straight on Thursday.

I want him gone,

Kickers are plug n play.
They only have one job.
Can sign a new one tomorrow.

Not that easy but I somewhat agree

I remember when Parkey came in after Murray was lost for the season due to injury. His first game against the Dolphins, he missed 3 field goals including I think 2 that could have won the game....

1, its not that easy to just "plug n play." 2, Parkey is still in the league after all those misses.

That was a different situation there, as he just arrived to be with the team on gameday I think.

Your right it isn’t ... i wish we had given it a shot this week it surely couldn’t have turned out any worse ...

Look, if your kicker can't even make extra points, in a dome/turf where I would imagine is VERY kicker friendly - that's a problem. I can slack off on the 40+ yard misses, but he had a chance to redeem himself. Instead of shanking it left like he did all the times before, he shanked it right.

I for one like Zane, but given his up/down season before - I'm ready to move on.

If we sign somebody, I hope he is here by tomorrow.

That would give him Tuesday and Wednesday to practice with his holder and snapper. On Wed. I would send the trio away from Berea and have them doing their thing in the stadium so the kicker becomes familiar with the surroundings and winds.

can you imagine if we had to keep Zane for the short week ... and he missed again to lose the NYJ game?

Why would u wait til Wednesday? ...

I agree...Between the safest place to kick at (dome) and the simplicity of an extra point...that's alarming...

The pressure for this team to win is to great and we are trying to rid the team of excuses...Feel bad for Zane, but you have to be better than what he has been...despite his amazing NCAA record.

j/c

I'm not that fan who impulsively wants any player cut because he failed to make a play.

Gonzalez seems to have the yips at the one thing he must do, put the ball between the goalpost.

I understand why he has to be released. There is no confidence that he can kick under pressure. That effects in-game decisions for the worse. The team obviously can't withstand that.

Yeah, I agree.

I think you know me. I always defend coaches, players, etc when they are getting hammered unmercifully. I hate piling on.

And I won't pile on Zane, but man, when it gets into your head and it is the biggest part of your job......

Well, that's tough to overcome.

I'm hoping the dude gets his stuff together again and comes back to the NFL next year and has a successful career.