Robbie Gould Still Good as Gold Despite Key Miss vs 49ers
By John Vassar
Robbie Gould plays on an island. Yesterday, that island suffered a major storm. With two seconds left in the game and the score tied at twenty, Gould attempted a 36 yard field goal for the win that he shanked to the left. It cost the Chicago Bears a chance to defeat the San Francisco 49ers in regulation, and the Bears of course, lost the game outright in overtime. It was Robbie’s second straight miss of the day after connecting on two earlier. After the game, Gould said he felt terrible and let his team down.
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Those remarks would be expected but it in the end it wasn’t all on Gould. Yes, Gould has struggled of late. Earlier this season he missed three straight and one of those was a potential game winner. Through the first six games Gould was 15-15 but since that time he is 11-16. After 11 seasons is Gould done or is this just a bad streak?
I think we can all agree, Gould has been an outstanding kicker for the Bears.He has won Chicago a lot more games than he’s lost. But the reality is, kicking is not easy. If it was, we all would be doing it and making millions. Like golf, kicking is 99% mental, and once self doubt creeps in, technique goes out the window. Suffice it to say, Gould is suffering from the yips (a golfer term) and his technique has suffered because of that.
In fairness to Gould, he did not lose the game for the Bears yesterday. There were plenty of missed opportunities to go around so to blame Robbie is a lazy man’s blame. I do feel bad for Gould. For so many seasons he has been reliable and now for the first time he’s struggling and the fan base has turned on him. The fact of life is that sometimes kickers miss, I have yet to see one make 100% of their attempted kicks for an entire season. Every kicker has missed a potential game winner, it’s a harsh reality to the job.
For me, Robbie Gould is still good as gold and next week, I have no doubts that he will come through for his team.
Robbie Gould addressed the media and discussed his struggles:
Pernell McPhee has nothing but love for Robbie: