Sebastian Janikowski Sinks The Bears From Afar

If there was ever a game prepared for a kicker, it was Sunday's Oakland Raiders contest against the Chicago Bears. The Raiders brought an offense with big play potential but with a low success rate against a Bears team among the league leaders in preventing successes. Many situations in football call for the coach to go for it on fourth down more often than we see in practice. This game, however, presents one scenario in which it is often smart to take the points if they're available -- the combination of a misfiring offense and a brick wall defense could tilt the field position game beyond reversal.

Of course, getting the three points on a field goal attempt isn't so easy as just calling the kicker and his support team onto the field. Field goals are risky propositions -- anywhere past the 30-yard mark and we encounter at least a 10% chance of failure. The lack of a capable field goal kicker could tilt the equation right back to supporting repeated fourth down conversion attempts.



But not for Oakland. Sebastian Janikowski, already one of the game's best kickers from deep, is putting together his best season ever. Entering the game he had succeeded on 16-of-18 kicks for an 88.9% mark, trailing his previous career high by less than one percentage point. By the time the Raiders dispatched the Bears behind his six field goals, he was 22-for-24 and the obvious offensive star for Oakland.

Janikowski didn't have to unleash the monstrous boot which has connected on 5-of-6 field goals from beyond 50 yards in this game, but he did knock in four kicks of at least 40 yards on the day. Although the kick in the NFL seems to be taken for granted at distances less than 50 yards, the success rate on 40-49 yard kicks in the NFL has been 75%. A one-in-four failure rate can hardly be ignored -- this past Sunday, the average kicker misses one of those four field goals from Janikowski. Beyond the field position ramifications of a missed field goal (another oft-overlooked aspect to the kicking game), the Bears could have been within a field goal of the victory as opposed to a touchdown in their final drive of the game.

Observe, Janikowski's contributions over the average kicker in a visual form:


Of Janikowski's other two kicks, one was a gimme -- chip shot is too difficult a description for a 19-yard field goal -- and the other was a relatively simple 37-yarder. Still, given the success rate data from our Fourthdownulator, the average kicker sends 4.6 field goals through the uprights given the six attempts Janikowski saw. As a result, Janikowsi's extra 1.2 successful kicks added a solid 4.2 points over the average kicker in a five-point game.

With the struggles of both offenses to find the end zone -- the Bears due to too many turnovers, the Raiders due to a lack of success in the running game -- the kickers reigned supreme. The Raiders managed to give their elite kicker just enough chances to make a game-changing difference.

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6 Responses to “Sebastian Janikowski Sinks The Bears From Afar”

  1. Anonymous says:

    This is a great analysis on a great football analysis website. One thing I have found lacking is coverage of special teams. I understand they aren't predictive, but fans still want to know how much kickers, punters, returners, and coverage teams have contributed to their team's success. Often times, these players become the scapegoat or heroes in popular sports reporting. It would be nice to see WPA and EPA numbers of these players to validate or refute that reporting. Thanks again for the wonderful site.

  2. Anonymous says:

    And thats not all.... Janiknowski has been kicking with an injured hamstring and I believe the missed field goal was tried when his injury was affecting hime the most. He has been a beast this year and has proved to be a STEAL of a first round pick.

  3. Anonymous says:

    "Janikowsi's extra 1.4 successful kicks" ??

  4. Dan says:

    > "Janikowsi's extra 1.4 successful kicks" ??

    Not actual kicks. Statistical kicks.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Janikowski and Lechler were ridiculous in this game. Three out of five punts inside the 20 with an average of 54.6 (there was an 80 yarder in there though).

    I think there could be a case for Lechler being one of the most dominant players in the league when it comes to a comparison to his peers.

  6. James says:

    Anon, there was a post about Lechler last year - http://www.advancednflstats.com/2010/01/shane-lechler-is-overratedor-is-he.html

    As you can see he's the best in the league, but McBriar and Koch would give him a run for his money.

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