Monday, September 18, 2000
Rackers still 0-for-season
Rookie kicker says latest misses his fault
By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Neil Rackers has missed all five of his field goal attempts since he won the Bengals kicking job in preseason.
Rackers missed two more field goals Sunday in the Bengals' 13-0 loss to the Jaguars. The rookie from Illinois missed wide left from 44 yards in the second quarter and hit the left upright from 47 yards on the last play of the first half.
“You keep kicking,” Rackers said. “Once you hope they go in, that's when you're in trouble. It wasn't the weather. It wasn't anything but me.”
He had one field goal blocked last week, and he hooked two left in the final preseason game.
“I just hit the ball, and it didn't go in,” he said. “I was so relaxed. I wasn't rushed at all. It was a little close. I came around the ball a little bit.”
The missed field goals meant the Bengals went into halftime trailing 10-0 instead of 10-6.
“We'd hoped to go into halftime 10-6 at the outset,” coach Bruce Coslet said. “That has an effect on my (offensive) play calling. It has an effect on (coach) Dick LeBeau's (defensive) play calling. We have to get that straightened up.”
Quarterback Akili Smith made note of the missed field goals after the game.
“Not to point the finger at anyone, but we've got to make our field goals,” Smith said. “We make our field goals and we go into half 10-6 totally different. But, you know, we're all struggling as a team.”
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Rackers still 0-for-season
