Sunday, October 21, 2001
Rackers still struggling
Kicker hitting 50%
By Mark Curnutte and John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Neil Rackers' struggling sophomore season continued Sunday when he hooked a 39-yard field goal attempt wide left early in the fourth quarter.
The second-year kicker is now 6 of 12 this year.
“We've had problems with the entire snap-hold-kick sequence,” Rackers said afterwards. “But this one was all me.
“When I hit it, it was going straight. But I didn't hit it all that well. The wind caught it and it went about 2 inches left.”
The Bengals changed holders on Rackers a week before the opener when they cut punter Daniel Pope in favor of rookie Nick Harris. Pope had held for Rackers all last season.
The Bengals trailed 17-0 at the time of the kick, which came with 14:21 remaining. It would have pulled the Bengals within two touchdowns.
“I wanted to put the points on the board, so we could go ahead and start recovering on-side kicks and come back and win the ball game,” he said.
Rackers, who missed all three attempts in the Baltimore game and a 22-yarder a week earlier, was booed by the sellout crowd.
In his post-game press conference, Bengals coach Dick LeBeau was asked, “How long do you stick with Neil Rackers?”
LeBeau's answer to that question: “Well, we'll take a good look at everything that happened today, like we do every Sunday and every Monday. We have to get our game back to where we can be competitive. We will try everything in our power to do that.”
Veteran kicker Richie Cunningham, who was in training camp with the Bengals before his preseason release, remains unsigned. Former Bengals kicker and Northern Kentucky resident Doug Pelfrey is still available, too.
In the preseason, the Bengals saw rookie Vitaly Pisetsky of the Bears. He was released in favor of Paul Edinger. Pisetsky made a 45-yard field goal against the Bengals.
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Rackers still struggling
