Bengals kicker Mike Nugent still perfect since overtime miss

[Arkansas Bengal]

 

Bengals kicker Mike Nugent still perfect since overtime miss

November, 28, 2014

Nov 28

5:00

PM ET

By Coley Harvey | ESPN.com

 

CINCINNATI -- Where are the "cut Mike Nugent" calls now?

In the last month and a half they've quieted down, and rightfully so.

 

Ever since his overtime miss at the buzzer of the Cincinnati Bengals' Week 6 tie with the Carolina Panthers, the kicker has been perfect. He's 8 for 8 on field goals since the disappointing wide-right boot.

It's a streak that has flown under the radar.

But such is the life of a kicker. People so seldom remember the successes but are quick to bring up the failures.

I was among them. In the hours after the kick that sent a shockwave throughout the AFC North and NFC South divisions, I inquired if it was time the Bengals start asking an uncomfortable question about moving on from Nugent as they sought to fix what had become a trend of place-kicking woes. I knew the answer at the time, and head coach Marvin Lewis said it back then just as he did again this week: Nugent was and continues to be the Bengals' kicker.

Lewis' patience, it would seem, has been rewarded.

"We have confidence in our players to get it done there, and that's the way it is," Lewis said. "If not, you get new players. As I said that day, I have a lot of confidence in Mike Nugent, and I expect him to make it any time I run him out there for a kick."

Immediately after the 36-yard overtime miss, though, there was reason to be concerned. With the miss, Nugent had gone 11-for-17 on field goals in the early season, and the miss came after a 1-for-4 showing against the Falcons a few weeks before. At about the same time, the Detroit Lions were having problems with their kickers, and the Lions kept changing kickers until their woes cleared.

There was good reason for the Bengals to react similarly. But with their faith in the former Ohio State kicker remaining unchanged, they didn't.

"It was one of those things where the coaches were great; my teammates were great," Nugent said. "They were like, 'We know the kind of kicker you are.' No one freaked out, no one got worried, just a lot of support and a lot of work with [special teams coordinator] Darrin [Simmons]. He was great through the whole process and still has been great about it. If you hit a few in a row, it doesn't mean the next one's going to go in without you paying attention to certain little details."

Nugent's last make, a 49-yarder coming out of the two-minute warning last Sunday, was a clutch one. It was his longest attempt since the big miss. It also helped extend the Bengals' lead, giving them a two-score separation that held for the 22-13 win.

"It's so much easier to say this now because I know how it felt at the time, but [as a kicker], it's going to be a roller coaster," the 10-year veteran said. "It depends on how low the lows are and how high the highs are. If something's going real well, you don't want to ride it all week and go crazy because [bad] things could happen and you never know. But it's one of those things: If you can stay as even-keel as possible, that's how you're going to come out of it best."

 

 

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