It was a little over a year ago on Nov. 26 that Arizona Cardinals kicker Chad Ryland missed a 35-yard field goal with three seconds remaining that would have sent his team to overtime in a 10-7 loss to the Giants.
That team, of course, was the New England Patriots. Ryland had a chance to play against his former team Sunday and while he hit all three of his field-goal attempts and that many extra points in the team’s 30-17 victory, he insists there was no gloating because he did it against his former team.
“For me, it was just bounce back from missing a kick the last three weeks,” Ryland said. “And us putting together a solid performance. I say that honestly and wholeheartedly. It was another game on the schedule. I don’t have a personal vendetta against anybody. There are a lot of guys on that sideline that I have a lot of love for. And that I’m thankful for my time there. I learned a ton, but I’m happy to be where my feet are now.
“I don’t think anything from last season rolls over to this season at all. Quite frankly, I’m surrounded by great guys, a great coaching staff. I have confidence in myself, my swing and the guys around me. It’s a lot of fun. I’m having a lot of fun right now.”
He’s had three game-winning kicks for the Cardinals after a season in which he was 16-for-25 (64.0 percent) on field goals, making 4-of-4 from 20-29 yards, 5-of-7 from 30-39, 5-of-10 from 40-49 and 2-of-4 from 50-plus, to go with missing one extra point in 25 attempts.
This year, after getting the job when Matt Prater suffered a knee injury, Ryland has kicked in 10 games and made 84.6 percent of his field-goal tries (22-for-26, 84.6 percent) with 5-for-5 from 20-29 yards, 10-for-10 from 30-39; 5-for-9 from 40-49, 2-for-2 from 50+ and all of his 15 extra-point attempts. Three of the misses in the 40s came in the previous three games.
This week could have complicated by having a new holder after punter Blake Gillikin suffered a foot injury last week against the Seahawks and was placed on injured reserve Saturday. Holding Sunday was new punter Michael Palardy, who was elevated from the practice squad.
Ryland took the change in stride.
“Mike’s awesome,” he said. “Spent a normal amount of time, a normal amount of reps. I mean Mike’s a pro. He’s played in the league 10-plus years. He knows how to execute his job at a high level and he’s fun to work with. Awesome dude and (long snapper Aaron) Brewer’s been awesome the whole year.”
Asked about adjusting to a new holder and communicating what he likes, Ryland said, “It’s not simple, but it is as clear-cut as like, ‘OK dude, this is how I like the ball.’ OK, easy, that’s how we’ll put the ball down. And then we go and do it. And that’s what we did. We made all our kicks today. It’s a lot of fun when that happens.”
Head coach Jonathan Gannon gave credit to special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers and assistant special teams coach Sam Sewell.
He said, “It was a really good job by Jeff and Sam to get him caught up to speed and everything. We spent a little extra time on it, but it’s hard. He doesn’t know half of his teammates, but I thought Mike came in and did a good job for us.”
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