Graham Gano ‘still fully confident’ after two missed kicks in Panthers loss to Lions
.JPG "Carolina Panthers kicker Graham Gano was limited in Thursday’s practice with a listed “left knee” injury.")
Quarterbacks miss throws. Wide receivers drop passes. Offensive linemen miss blocks.
And kickers miss kicks.
The Carolina Panthers’ loss Sunday to the Detroit Lions played out like a twisted game of Mistake Bingo. Cam Newton threw the go-ahead two point conversion behind Jarius Wright. Devin Funchess dropped more passes than he caught. Newton was sacked three times.
And Graham Gano missed a field goal and an extra point.
If players were perfect, there’d be no point in watching the game. Still, their imperfections can be tough to process from a fan’s standpoint. Unsurprisingly, they’re no easier for the players to stomach.
“Obviously I’ve missed kicks before,” Gano said. “I felt fine just missed those. It’s a tough game.”
Gano’s missed 34-yard field goal would have tied the game in the third quarter. Instead, Detroit promptly doubled its lead on the ensuing drive.
His missed extra point in the fourth quarter would have given the Panthers the lead. Detroit responded with a touchdown on the following drive, but the effects of Gano’s miss rippled beyond that Lions scoring drive.
Carolina scored with 1:07 left in the game to pull within a point of tying the game but Gano remained on the sideline following the touchdown. Head coach Ron Rivera decided to go for the two-point conversion, not out of a lack of confidence in his kicker he said, but because, well, that’s just what you do in that situation.
“He missed a couple of kicks. That’s all part of it,” Rivera said. “I was going for the win. That’s just the bottom line.
“I think you go for two on the road to win the game. That’s what I did, at the end of the day.”
Gano didn’t feel disrespected by Rivera’s decision and is confident he would’ve made the extra point. And his confidence is not unwarranted. He hadn’t missed a field goal this season before Sunday and had made 24-of-26 extra points.
Football ebbs and flows. Gano won the day for Carolina against the New York Giants in October. Six weeks later, he was a contributing factor in the loss to Detroit. Gano’s been around the league 10 years, it’ll take more than a couple of missed kicks to shake him.
“I’ve been hitting the ball well. Obviously it’s a tough one to swallow, you never want to have a game like this but it happens,” Gano said. “I’ll go out there and work hard this week and bounce back.
“I’m still fully confident, I’ve been having a great year so it’s not really going to change a whole lot, just keep kicking.”
So the season continues for Carolina, which desperately needs to beat Seattle next week with New Orleans running away with the NFC South and the NFC wild card race tightening by the week. Newton will throw another pass. Funchess will run another route. Carolina’s offensive line will again drop back in pass protection.
And Gano will attempt another kick. Life goes on.