A Former Viking Crumbled on Sunday
He may not last long in the Big Apple.
A Former Viking Crumbled on Sunday
That’s the word on former Minnesota Vikings kicker Greg Joseph, who crumbled on Sunday Night Football with his new team, the New York Giants. New York lost by 10 at home to the Cincinnati Bengals, and Joseph missed two field goals, substantially altering his team’s chances of winning.
The Giants are now 2-4, with 6% odds of reaching the postseason, according to sportsbooks.
Incumbent Giants kicker Graham Gano fell injured a few weeks ago, and in return, the Giants took the plunge with Joseph, who had ups and downs with the Vikings. When the 2024 offseason arrived, Minnesota had a choice between another year of Joseph, hoping his struggles with “ordinary” field goals and extra points would stabilize. In the end, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said “no” to Joseph and onboarded rookie kicker Will Reichard from the draft.
Reichard is perfect through five games.
Joseph has missed three field goals in four games as a Giant but has connected on all six extra points. Predictably, during and after New York’s clumsy home loss to the Bengals, Giants fans called for a kicker change on social media. A swap could reasonably occur, as most onlookers believe general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll are on the hot seat. Both might have to win now or risk termination during or after the 2024 regular season.
The embattled specialist played for Minnesota from 2021 to 2023, securing the kicker job longer than most amid the last decade of Vikings football. Joseph racked up five game-winning field goals in 2022 — you read that right: five — a chief component in actionizing the Vikings’ NFL-record-setting 11-0 record in games decided by one score or less that season. Minnesota’s kicker won five football games for the team notoriously snakebitten by kicker-related tomfoolery.
Yet, in back-to-back seasons, 2022 and 2023, Joseph ranked as a bottom-six NFL kicker per overall field goal percentage. The man also struggled with extra points. Vikings fans “appreciated what they had” in Joseph, jaded from kickers of yesteryear who let them down in crucial, pressure-cooked moments. But as a matter of improvement, Minnesota strived to find a kicker who could do it all: consistently hit game-winning kicks, normal ones, and drill extra points. So, it drafted Reichard.
This statistic is the main reason that the Vikings preferred a new solution in Reichard:
Greg Joseph,
Field Goal % Ranking,
Last 2 Seasons:
2022 = 28th
2023 = 28th
Ironically, Joseph hit the longest field goal in Vikings history to beat the Giants two years ago at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Joseph also joined the Green Bay Packers roster last spring after departing the Vikings. He later lost a kicker battle, and little-known free agent Brayden Narveson took over the gig. It’s worth noting that Narveson has missed five field goals in six games for the Packers.
If the Giants say sayonara to Joseph, kickers like Randy Bullock, Riley Patterson, and Mason Crosby are available on the open market.
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Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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