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No Woes For Opposing Kickers

In what can only be explained as a statistical quirk, the Cardinals have been on the wrong end of some excellent kicking the past three seasons. Opponents were below league average on field goals against the Cardinals in 2013 and 2014, but have been kicking at a collective All-Pro level ever since.

The Buccaneers might be fretting over their kicking game after Nick Folk's disastrous three-miss outing in last week's loss to the Patriots. That performance landed him on injured reserve, and Tampa Bay will head to Arizona with new kicker Patrick Murray in tow.

If recent history holds, they don't have anything to worry about.

In what can only be explained as a statistical quirk, the Cardinals have been on the wrong end of some excellent kicking the past three seasons. Opponents were below league average on field goals against the Cardinals in 2013 and 2014, but have been kicking at a collective All-Pro level ever since.

The Cardinals have watched all 10 field goal attempts against them split the uprights this season, and opponents have connected at a 93.8 percent clip dating back to the start of 2015. Conversely, Chandler Catanzaro and Phil Dawson have struggled over that time span, combining to hit only 80.6 percent of their attempts.

The Cardinals used to be among the league leaders in blocked field goals, but coach Bruce Arians said rule changes have limited those opportunities. The interior push is harder to achieve because various actions are now penalized.

"If you lose your balance now and lean on a guy, it's leverage," Arians said. "Up the middle, Calais (Campbell) and those guys, who have jumped before and landed, or just put a hand on somebody, is now a penalty. Everything has to come off the edge."

So the field goal kickers are getting cleaner looks, and over the past three years, Cardinals opponents have been uncommonly successful at booting them through.

*FG MadeFG AttemptedPercentage
Cardinals (2017)
Opponents (2017)
9
10
13
10
69.2
100.0
Cardinals (2016)
Opponents (2016)
21
25
28
28
75.0
89.3
Cardinals (2015)
Opponents (2015)
28
26
31
27
90.3
96.3
 Cardinals (2014)
Opponents (2014)
29
25
33
32
87.9
78.1
Cardinals (2013)
Opponents (2013)
30
25
36
32
83.3
78.1
Cardinals* (Overall)
Opponents (Overall)
117
111
141
129
82.9
86.0

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