Saturday, December 11, 1999Pelfrey struggling through bad year
Bengals kicker can't afford more mistakes
BY TOM GROESCHEN
The Cincinnati EnquirerBengals place-kicker Doug Pelfrey admittedly has not had a good year. And unless he shows consistency over the final three games, he could face serious competition in 2000.
Pelfrey, a seven-year veteran, finished the 1996 season as the NFL's most accurate field-goal kicker ever, at 81.25 percent. Since then his accuracy has declined annually, from 75.0 percent in 1997 to 70.4 percent last year to 68 percent (17 of 25) this year.
“He's had a hard time with his consistency, and he's struggled to be as accurate as he was,” Bengals President Mike Brown said. “We're hoping he pulls through it.”
Pelfrey has one year remaining on his Bengals contract. While Brown won't put Pelfrey on the spot publicly, team insiders say Pelfrey can't afford more slip-ups.
“I just want to try to finish this thing strong,” Pelfrey said Friday. “Sure, it's been a year that I'll try to forget, but it's a year where I think I've grown with some bad times.”
This is the first season since 1994 that Pelfrey hasn't had former punter Lee Johnson (released) and long snap per Greg Truitt (injured) with him. He has had five different holders and three snappers since training camp, thanks to injuries and player movement.
For now, punter Brad Costello holds and Steve Bush snaps.
“For so long, I had Greg and Lee that I counted on,” Pelfrey said. “I got comfortable with them. Right now, Brad and Bushie are doing a great job.”
The Bengals have granted Pelfrey some leeway with all the snapper-holder changes,
and Pelfrey got a reprieve last week with a season-high three field goals (in three attempts) vs. the 49ers. Still, there have been too many instances such as two weeks ago in Pittsburgh.
In that game, with 5:51 left and the Bengals up 27-20, Pelfrey missed a 25-yard field goal attempt wide left. It was the shortest miss of his career and could have put the game away. Instead, the Bengals white-knuckled to a 27-20 victory.
There was the 1-for-4 field-goal showing at Carolina on Sept.26, as all three Pelfrey misfires (47, 37 and 30 yards) ruined big drives. There was a point when the Bengals could have trailed only 13-12 if Pelfrey made all his kicks, but instead they lost 27-3.
“Whatever it has been with him this year, it's been a mystery to me,” Brown said. “He had a good game last week, and hopefully it stays that way.”
As a seven-year veteran, Pelfrey has earned the slack that a Richie Cunningham — waived by Dallas this week — had not. Cunningham went just 12-for-22 on field goals this year after being one of the NFL's most accurate kickers (63-of-72, 87.5 percent) in his first two seasons.
Pelfrey has some credentials as the Bengals' No.2 all-time scorer behind Jim Breech and holds team records for single-season scoring (121 points in 1995), consecutive PATs (103) and field goals in a game (six).
“My stats aren't up to par, but I don't feel like I'm striking the ball bad,” Pelfrey said. “We've had a lot of unfortunate things happen, a lot of extenuating circumstances, but I still have to make the kicks.”
The Northern Kentucky native (Scott High) has not had a real challenge to his job since making the team as a rookie in 1993. At age 29, he intends for it to stay that way.
“Usually a lot of your growth is when you're going through your bad times,” he said. “Obviously, I've had some growth this year.”
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