Olindo Mare may not be a kicker for the Seattle Seahawks for much longer after the team’s 25-19 loss to Bears Sunday.
As a going away present, Seahawks coach Jim Mora threw him under a bus during his post-game press conference. Then put in reverse. Then honked so everyone was paying attention.
As detailed by the Seattle Times, Mora talked at length about Mare’s two missed field goals Sunday, which came from 43 and 34 yards.
“There’s no excuses for those. If you’re a kicker in the National Football League you should make those kicks -- bottom line. End of story. Period. No excuses. No wind, doesn’t matter. You’ve gotta makes those kicks,” Mora said, just warming up.
“Especially in a game like this, where you’re kicking and fighting and scratching your tail off and you miss those kicks, it’s not acceptable. Not acceptable. Absolutely not acceptable.”
Mora’s final comments on Mare made it sound like the team will look for new options shortly.
“We’re not going to fight our ass off, and have a field goal kicker go out there and miss two field goals and lose a game. It’s not going to happen.”
In Mare’s defense, the man did hit four field goals Sunday.
In Mora’s defense, the coach also pointed the finger at himself for the loss.
The kicker is always an easy scapegoat, but that doesn’t make it a fair assessment. The Seahawks played well as a team despite many injuries, but their offense stalled in the red zone twice and they only averaged 5.3 yards per pass play.
There are many aspects of the game that one can point to in an evenly matched football game like Seahawks-Bears; Mora just picked the easiest target.