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The battle for the kicking job in Chicago is over. The Bears released kicker Paul Edinger on Sunday, according to the team's official website, leaving Doug Brien as leading candidate to handle the team's kicking duties this season. Edinger performed well early in his five-year run with the team, but fell into a slump over the last two years. The five-year veteran has missed 18 of his last 43 kicks.
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Would he be worth bringing in to compete with Lindell? -
You bet your darth sidious wardrobe he is!Originally posted by Darth Takeo
In fact, i'm willing to bet he takes lindell's job away. -
sometimes a change of scenery is all it takes to kill a slump. And anybody is worth bringing in to compete with Lindell.The best is yet to come, and the rest is history. -- Oval OpusComment
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Edingers Stats Last Year:
Games: 16
1-19 Yds: 0-0
20-29 Yds: 6-7
30-39 Yds: 2-5
40-49 Yds: 4-7
50+ Yds: 3-5
Total 15-24 ( 62.5%)
Long: 53
Blocked: 1
Extra Points: 22-22
Kickoffs: 56
Average: 58.4
Touchbacks: 0
On paper, he doesn't look much better than Lindell I'm afraid. His lifetime Fg % is almost a point lower than Lindell. His kickoffs don't look much better either. I always thought he was a decent kicker but I'm beginning to see why he was released now.Comment
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The difference in the stats is, Edinger used to be more accurate, and so he was given opportunities to try long FG's. Lindell didn't get many of those chances last year. I'm not saying it makes one better or worse, but you have to acknowledge the context in which those stats were accumulated.The best is yet to come, and the rest is history. -- Oval OpusComment
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No Edinger please. No no no.Comment
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I'd take him for competition."It's not whether you win or lose; it's how you play the game."-Vince LombardiComment
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Anythings better than Lindell!! I think he, and maybe even someone else be brought in to challange Lindell for our PK. I have a good feeling we wouldnt be seeing Lindells stupid ass anymore!Comment
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WHY
we have Pochman over in NFLE and we just brought in a rookie K we don't need Edinger. Also Lindell didn't do all that bad last yr.
Year Team G 1-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ Tot Lg Blk Pct XP XPG Pct
2004 Buffalo Bills 16 0-0 13-14 10-11 1-3 0-0 24-28 43 0 85.7 45-45 45 100.0I wish the numbers would line upComment
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Looking at Edinger's numbers, the thing that scares me is that he was 2 of 5 between 30-39 yards out. While it's frustrating to know that you have a kicker that you can't trust to make a kick over 40 yards, it can be a real morale killer for a team to drive in close enough for a kick under 40 yards and have your kicker blow the kick more than 50% of the time. While Lindell is not a bet-the-ranch lock to make any kick at any time, his percentage on kicks under 40 yards is still pretty good. I know that Edinger has put up better accuracy numbers in the past than he did last season, but I wonder if the Bills coaches would want to risk bringing in a guy who might have more range than Lindell, but might kill the team's morale by being even more shaky than Lindell on the "gimmes".
I'm definitely not a fan of Lindell, but I wonder if Edinger would really be much of an improvement, if any.
What interests me about the Bears giving the starting job to Brien at this point is what they intend to do with the rookie PKs that they have on their roster now. They drafted N.Novak out of Maryland, who some scouts liked more than I did, and also signed T.Jones, from Boise St., who I really was hoping that the Bills would sign as a UDFA. While J.Rheem, the kicker that the Bills signed as a UDFA, isn't bad, most scouting services had T.Jones rated higher than him and N.Novak about the same. I wouldn't mind seeing the Bills bring in either one of them to compete with Lindell and Rheem if the Bears cut them now that they have decided to give Brien their starting PK job.Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. And, thus it was that they surrendered their freedom; not with a bang, but without even a whimper.Comment
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The Bears had absolutely no confidence in Edinger as the season wore on. He USED to be a decent bad weather kicker (I believe he went to college at Michigan State), but he was horrible last year. His kickoffs were horrible too.
Plus he's about as sharp as a bowling ball.Comment
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Missed kick against Pitt? That was a momentum killer. Also, my biggest complaint about Lindell is the fact that the coaches have to change their strategy to account for his shortcomings. 4th and 2 from the 27 is a 44-yard FG. If it's windy they won't even give Lindell a shot and risk giving the opposing offense a quarter of the field for nothing. Also, if we're down by 1 or 2 late in the 4th, we need to get 10 yards closer than most teams to have a shot. That's too much additional pressure on the offense.Originally posted by LOSman WINS
I said the same thing about Brien and I agree about Edinger. The fact that he got displaced by Brien proves just how bad this guy is. Again, I'm no Lindell fan, but I won't subscribe to the notion that ANYONE is an improvement. Face it- this guy is not the guy we need.Originally posted by LifetimeBillsFanComment
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According to this article, the Vikings are not showing any interest in Edinger to date. Minnesota was considered a favorite to sign him, as they aren't thrilled with their current K situation (they reportedly wanted to draft Nugent with the #49 pick, but were shocked by the Jets taking him at #47). Minnesota was the team that signed Edinger to a RFA offer sheet two years ago, before losing out on him when Chicago matched.
The article does state:
"Harris said two AFC teams are "very interested in Edinger." One is believed to be Tennessee."
Could the Bills be the other AFC Team, besides the Titans, to show interest in Edinger?Comment
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I'm glad it's not the fans who run the team. Some of us tend to get hung up on name players, regardless how bad that player has been since he got that one big "name" year.
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Despite your contempt for Lindell, Anything is NOT better - including Edinger, who was a 62% FG kicker last year. Lindell is a serviceable kicker who we will keep until someone better - not just someone whose name we recognize as having been in the league a few years - becomes available.Originally posted by LindellSucksShould have known, way back in 1960 when we drafted Richie Lucas Number 1, that this would be a long, hard ride. But who could have known it would be THIS bad?
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