Aquayo-like Success Rate
January 3rd, 2020
“Remember me?”
Joe hopes readers have let their breakfast settle before reading the following. Otherwise, they might need to buy a new keyboard.
It seems rookie kicker Matt Gay, after having an impressive stretch of kicking in the latter weeks of the season and melting down in the season finale with three missed field goals, isn’t a whole lot better than the notorious Roberto Aguayo was his rookie season.
That’s the information that Greg Auman of The Athletic came up with.
Gay connected on 27 of 35 field goal attempts for a 77 percent clip. He, of course, lost the Giants game with a last-minute kick and the final Dixie Chicks game in which he missed three field goals in a game that went to overtime.
To compare Gay’s rookie season to Aguayo’s rookie season, Aguayo kicked 22 of 31 field goals. That came out to just a hair under 71 percent.
Auman combined all kicks as well, including both field goals and extra point attempts, Gay’s kicking average was 84 percent. Aguayo’s was 83 percent in his rookie season.
What does this tell Joe? Well, looks like we were fooled for a time there that the kicking situation was fixed. It is not.
Bucs better have a backup plan ready in case Gay starts horribly next year.
Man, if your quarterback plays Robin Hood at home (seven picks in his last two games) and your kicker cannot kick (three field goals missed on Sunday), no wonder the Bucs are often doomed in the Den of Depression.
January 3rd, 2020 at 5:29 am
I’m not sure about the exact statistics of Aquayo vs. Gay, but to be fair to Gay’s abilities is they brought in a big boot rookie who had to attempt many long distance field goals that mostly weren’t total shanks compared to Aquayo who couldn’t make a 30-yarder any where close to the goal posts. I’m usually not one to make excuses for the big money NFL players, but week 17 was a wet weekend in Tampa and that field was soggy as hell. Not to mention a mistake by the holder on one of those kicks. I’m thinking (hoping) Gay will bounce back his sophomore year with more work.
January 3rd, 2020 at 5:33 am
I don’t see how this is a fair comparison. Aquayo rarely made a kick over 40 yards. Gay does much better in the longer more difficult field goals over 40 yards.
He is still a work in progress
I believe it was last week that the green bay kicker won the game and was vindicated for his five misses last year iagainst the same team.
Also believe kicking woes would be minimized if we finished more drives especially in the second half of games.
January 3rd, 2020 at 5:54 am
I’m with Bob in Valrico.
Matt Gay consistently missed short kicks, and he had a few blocked as well. His misses came in spurts, and then he got over it. He was great from out past 50 yards.
Aguayo missed from all over the place, and he missed consistently.
I don’t mind bringing in real competition, but I think Gay still deserves some time to grow.
January 3rd, 2020 at 6:19 am
Said the same thing as Bob and Garret in my first comment that was deleted by moderation (which I still don’t understand even if I don’t curse or whatever I’m doing wrong if Joe or someone could explain it to me). Gay will get better as time goes on.
January 3rd, 2020 at 6:34 am
I would add one important fact: when a kicker misses an important kick, the team doesn’t ONLY miss out on the 1 or 3 points directly tied to that missed kick. They lose the momentum of the game. We’ve all seen it happen with the Bucs again and again and again. The Bucs are making a comeback, movin’ down the field, firing on all cylinders, and *whomp whomp* the kick sails wide right. The camera pans over to the sidelines and you see the shoulders slump and dejection take over the Bucs players’ faces. Next thing you know, that magic momentum that made them look dominant on the previous possession just ain’t there. A missed kick at the wrong time has absolutely cost the Bucs multiple games each year since we’ve had a reliable kicker.
January 3rd, 2020 at 6:42 am
Don
Agree about momentum. This is why I do not understand the Jameis apologists who forgive everything.
JW’s pick 6’s were horrible momentum changes…his ill timed picks which of course sometimes ended games but always crush mighty mo.
January 3rd, 2020 at 6:56 am
I’m with Bob in Valrico.
Gay has a strong leg with longer range than Aquayo did. He’s worth giving another look next season but serious competition during TC couldn’t hurt.
January 3rd, 2020 at 7:00 am
I am not sure whether Gay is any better than Aguayo. How many years in a row have we watched our special teams be in the bottom third of the league? If feels like 44.
January 3rd, 2020 at 7:10 am
Licht will draft another kicker instead of OL help….
January 3rd, 2020 at 7:18 am
Aguayo cursed himself wearing double digits what kicker does that? That showed he definitely had no knowledge of the position. As for gay his last name speaks volumes so no way he can kick straight.
January 3rd, 2020 at 7:27 am
Dump Gay. The guy won’t get any better. Let’s find another veteran that’s gold inside 40. Bryant…. LOL.
January 3rd, 2020 at 7:36 am
Gay ain’t Straight
January 3rd, 2020 at 7:51 am
Gay is a rookie that will be better next year after going thru the growing pains of his rookie season. Aguayo missed FG’s from every part of the field consistantly. Look at how bad our DB’s were at the beginning of the year, yet got better the second half of the season. Gay went thru growing pains this season. And I’m confident he will be much ore accurate in his second year.
January 3rd, 2020 at 7:51 am
Don_RyJo(e) Says:
January 3rd, 2020 at 6:34 am
I would add one important fact: when a kicker misses an important kick, the team doesn’t ONLY miss out on the 1 or 3 points directly tied to that missed kick. They lose the momentum of the game. We’ve all seen it happen with the Bucs again and again and again. The Bucs are making a comeback, movin’ down the field, firing on all cylinders, and *whomp whomp* the kick sails wide right. The camera pans over to the sidelines and you see the shoulders slump and dejection take over the Bucs players’ faces. Next thing you know, that magic momentum that made them look dominant on the previous possession just ain’t there. A missed kick at the wrong time has absolutely cost the Bucs multiple games each year since we’ve had a reliable kicker.
————-
Great point! How does the constant turnovers fron a Jameis impact this team? I feel like it happens tenfold.
January 3rd, 2020 at 7:51 am
Aguayo missed consistently and missed from longer distances…..Gay’s percentage went way down because of the last game….before that he ranked in the middle of the NFL kickers…
He will be fine but we do need to bring in strong competition.
January 3rd, 2020 at 7:57 am
When your QB and offense are a -13 in turnover ratio the other units need to be damned near perfect to overcome those mistakes when they aren’t you get losing records
Team needs to play smarter and protect the damn ball
Dumbest team in the whole league
January 3rd, 2020 at 7:58 am
Gays got a monster leg but seems his short field goals need help. Why don’t we get a punter who can punt an kick short yardage field goals lol or just get Fay right.
January 3rd, 2020 at 8:13 am
This team got Jaymiss and Gaymiss
January 3rd, 2020 at 8:22 am
Shouldn’t he have a least 5-6 years to get better?
Seems to be ok for our PRO READY QB.
January 3rd, 2020 at 8:22 am
With the exception of the last play of the game, when the kicker comes out it is because the offense is not firing on all cylinders or we have shot ourselves in the foot with a penalty.
January 3rd, 2020 at 8:27 am
DoooshLaRue is right! If America’s Quarterback Mr Entertainment Pro Bowl etc etc gets 5 years to figure out the whole turnover pick 6 thing than Gay deserves a longer leash!
In all seriousness though they better bring in a vet for competition in training camp
January 3rd, 2020 at 8:32 am
They’d be pretty crazy to move on from Matt Gay. They do need to bring in a veteran kicker though this off-season for competition.
Look, even if Gay wins the Giants, Falcons and Seahawks games, the Bucs still miss the playoffs.
January 3rd, 2020 at 8:52 am
Extra points are not even a sure thing with Gay. He is so unpredictable there is no telling what will happen. I guess he is an entertaining kicker like Jameis is an entertaining QB…..all in the wrong way. Let’s bring a proven veteran in and dump this guy. He is just another Aquayo type draft mistake…..garbage.
January 3rd, 2020 at 9:02 am
Gay can certainly improve BUT lets keep in mind he is a rookie and a quick pull up of NFL.com shows his 77% success rate is good for 22nd in the league. Not good but not panic mode. I think we bring in competition for sure but lets not act like we were league worst. For comparison sake Titans were 44% success rate 32nd in the NFL. 8 for 18 and they are in playoffs. Although the Giants game and possibly others were cost due to kicks the game should have never came down to a kicker in the first place.
January 3rd, 2020 at 9:03 am
begging for bill capece 🙂
January 3rd, 2020 at 9:05 am
Over the course of the season it **felt** like Matt Gay was considerably better but I guess not.
January 3rd, 2020 at 9:06 am
If you notice, when he misses it isn’t by much. Aguayo on the other hand would completely shank kicks. Gay will be just fine. As stated above he was doing just fine & had one bad game to end the season which messed up his stats.
January 3rd, 2020 at 9:08 am
i got one, how about not using early round picks on kickers.
January 3rd, 2020 at 9:30 am
9 points left of the board in the Falcons game
Jameis haters will say it’s just 9 points against an NFL defense no big deal.
January 3rd, 2020 at 9:49 am
Long field goals
Gay (attempts 40-49) Made 11 of 14.
Aguayo (attempts 40-49) Made 4 of 10.
Field goals 50+
Gay 5 of 8
Aguayo 0 of 1
Pats
Gay 43 of 48 (2 blocked)
Aguayo 32 of 34 (0 blocked)
January 3rd, 2020 at 10:03 am
Don’t trust Gay one bit in clutch situations. To be fair…kicking is down across the board in the NFL. Moving the extra point back to the equivalent of a 34 yarder has made for some shaky knees. Outside of Tucker, Gould and a few others…it’s a total crap shoot. Look what happened to both Matt Bryant and Viniteri (sp) for playing one season too long as well.
January 3rd, 2020 at 10:04 am
hating on gay, while slurping on crabman.
really making it hard not to find new elsewhere other than for the pure stupidity and sometimes funny articles……..
January 3rd, 2020 at 10:06 am
stpetebucsfan Says:
JW’s pick 6’s were horrible momentum changes…his ill timed picks which of course sometimes ended games but always crush mighty mo
_______
Usually they are but out of the games he threw a pick 6, I bet the team record wasn’t terrible. And even if they were, the team was only blown out really once against the Saints in the last game. Even the fiasco in England was close. Mighty Mo didn’t exist with this team.
January 3rd, 2020 at 10:08 am
Tackleblockwin Says:
January 3rd, 2020 at 9:49 am
Long field goals
Gay (attempts 40-49) Made 11 of 14.
Aguayo (attempts 40-49) Made 4 of 10.
Field goals 50+
Gay 5 of 8
Aguayo 0 of 1
Pats
Gay 43 of 48 (2 blocked)
Aguayo 32 of 34 (0 blocked)
_______
Nice stat capture. This is why we need not panic. I’d like to see Gay’s stats in Bucs South Endzone vs all other endzones. Plus, Gay had two meltdowns and otherwise was excellent. Aguayo was consistently terrible.
January 3rd, 2020 at 10:22 am
Matt Gay will be fine. 77% is a huge difference from 71% btw…but that doesn’t matter.
Matt Gay is a different animal. He’s got a season behind him, knows what to fix, and will come back strong.
January 3rd, 2020 at 10:26 am
Both suck.
January 3rd, 2020 at 10:32 am
stpetebucsfan Says
“This is why I do not understand the Jameis apologists who forgive everything.”
I don’t believe there are as many apologists as you think.I
I, for example, support Jameis, but I acknowledge his faults. However, I also acknowledge his improvements. Haters often try to ignore the good:
GOOD
• Winston improved a lot in the deep passing game.
• Winston scored a lot of touchdowns.
• Winston and the offense remained in the top five of the league most of the season.
BAD
• Winston threw more picks than ever
• Winston was sacked more than ever
• Winston stared down his targets
Those second two are the reasons for most of his picks…and can be addressed.
January 3rd, 2020 at 10:46 am
Buccaneer Bonzai.
Yep.
In the end the only Stat that counts is wins.
January 3rd, 2020 at 11:25 am
Gay was good from long distances but had problems with kicks under 40. It is easier to fix the short kicks than the long one. I still think he a good value at round 5. Should be able to correct his mistakes.
January 3rd, 2020 at 11:45 am
Gtfoh with that…. the people go with their stat checking again which never have proper context applied to it…..forget your posts saying we have a kicker earlier in the year? At no point did anyone ever mistake Roberto as a franchise type kicker. Gay has a couple games with multiple misses and beyond that it’s a miss here or there
Someone loves this article because its yet another excuse for winston pick 6
Kickers miss, penalties cost points, blown coverages and calls by refs, drops too and all these are killers but only losers continue to say these are reasons we lose games.
Matt gay missed 3 field goals ok well you got the ball in overtime and threw a pick 6 the loss is on winston like the lose to the giants is 100% on matt gay.
Even if he made all three field goals people like to assume Atlanta would not been able to make up two scores to still tie or take the lead and it would have won the game, that’s an assumption and you cannot based truth off assumptions
January 3rd, 2020 at 11:47 am
Gay still has a way stronger leg, and overall better %, however in the games he played poorly, he played REALLY poorly.
He missed 3 kicks against the Giants too, Joe, not just one.
January 3rd, 2020 at 12:23 pm
Make it a kicking competition but put your money on Matt Gay.
The NFL goal posts are much narrower than in college. That makes the rookie year a challenge, especially under this CBA and the brief training camps. There is also the 16 game season that drains rookies to the bone.
Relax and wait, he’ll be fine.
January 3rd, 2020 at 3:15 pm
Yeah I’m not as worried as some. I don’t think adding competition even is necessary. Just sign some guy off the street if he has a mental breakdown but I believe.
Considering the 2 blocks and the amount of longer kicks he made, he has a much better season than Aguayo.
Aguayo couldn’t hit anything beyond 40. And was a 2nd round pick. I want to throw up thinking about the draft mentality at the time… you had to know the pressure you were creating by overthinking everyone and making a move that everyone made fun of, and you proved that you were not smarter than anyone and basically dumber than everyone lol.
January 3rd, 2020 at 3:19 pm
It’s mental at this point. We need to find a kicker who isn’t a head case.
January 3rd, 2020 at 5:46 pm
Matt is not good and it’s time to part ways or at worst bring in some serious competition. Other teams can find viable kickers and Licht and his scouts have failed time and time again to find a solid one.
January 3rd, 2020 at 11:51 pm
That’s what happens when you waste draft picks on kickers