From time to time, a head coach ices a kicker with a time out taken so late that the kicker actually kicks the field goal. All too often, the kicker misses the first try and then, given an unexpected Mulligan, makes the second.
Eagles coach Andy Reid dodged a Cataldi cannonball on Sunday night when Reid’s decision to ice Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes resulted in a pair of misses.
Asked after the game whether Reid wished he could get a Mulligan on the decision to give Tynes a Mulligan (this is probably the most times I’ve ever used Mulligan in one article . . . Mulligan), Reid said, “When you’re surrounded by 66,000 people that want to probably rip your throat out at that time, yes I did. That’s about 20-fold what Custer felt.”
The throat-ripping could have happened inside the locker room, too. Following the game, quarterback Mike Vick reiterated his observations from an on-field post-game interview with Michele Tafoya: “I don’t believe in icing the kicker. You give everything. You let them kick it and if it’s good it’s going to be good. If not, you can’t play games. I don’t know who started that but we have to end that tradition.”
We agree. If Tynes had made the second try, Reid would have been facing pitchforks and torches all week, maybe longer. And he also would have made it easier for owner Jeffrey Lurie to move on after the season, if the resulting 2-2 record had translated to 8-8.
Look at it this way. No coach has ever been criticized for not icing a kicker.