Nobody wants to be in Blair Walsh's shoes this Monday morning. At the end of the NFC Wild Card playoff game between the Vikings and Seahawks, the Minnesota kicker made one of the most miserable, unenviable errors in professional sports.
Here's the scenario: Seattle is leading 10-9 late in the fourth quarter. But Teddy Bridgewater and his Vikings offense have managed to truck their way downfield. The game clock is ticking down. Seattle is running out of timeouts. Minnesota places themselves well within field goal range, and are poised to send Russel Wilson and the Seahawks packing. It's fourth down, and Minnesota freezes the game clock with only 26 seconds left. Blair Walsh is done warming up, and the field goal unit heads onto the field for an all-but-routine 27 yard attempt.
The holder gets the snap, and Walsh sees laces in front of him—technically and psychologically, it's an 'uh-oh' moment for the holder and his kicker.
Seattle advances to the NFC Divisional round, and Minnesota is done for the year.
Walsh was devastated after the game. You can't help but feel awful for him. Nobody wants to be in that situation ever. On the other hand, Blair Walsh was the only one who scored any points for his team, which highlights the shortcomings of the Vikings' offense yesterday. It's a simple lesson that goes to show that games are always a team effort, and victory or defeat is never determined by the performance of one individual.
Keep your head up, Blair Walsh.
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