At this point, we’re probably piling on Minnesota Vikings kicker Blair Walsh. However, the reality is his missed 27-yard field goal against the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Wild Card round, which in all likelihood would have been the game-winner, was stunning. This wasn’t even the distance of an extra point under the new NFL rule. (That’s not to say Walsh stinks. Sometimes, you just mess up.)
Still, videos keep emerging of the moments immediately before and after Walsh’s kick. And as long as they keep emerging, we’ll keep sharing, especially when they’re as interesting as the one involving Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin. Sitting on the bench just before Walsh’s attempt, one player says to Baldwin, “What if he misses it?” to which Baldwin responds, “He just might.”
Baldwin may have kinda-sorta called his shot, but it’s still hard to imagine anyone on the Seahawks sideline feeling good about the situation right up until the moment Walsh’s kick sailed wide left. If anything, there was probably a whole lot of praying going on. Those prayers were answered, of course, and now the Seahawks will travel to Carolina to take on the top-seeded Panthers for the right to go to the NFC championship game.
[Inside the NFL]
