Will the Real Placekickers of the NFL Please Stand Up?

As I sat in my dorm room watching the Jets and Chargers play in the NFL Divisional round, I began to wonder if any kickers in the league want to actually make kicks anymore. 

Nick Folk, Jason Elam, Steve Hauschka, and Shaun Suisham were all cut earlier this year due to their inability to make field goals.  Mason Crosby of the Packers and Kris Brown of the Texans have been heavily scrutinized due to their lack of made kicks as well, but somehow they still have jobs.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers used three different kickers alone this season.

And so far during the playoffs, Shayne Graham, Neil Rackers, and Nate Kaeding have each cost their teams a chance at victory. 

Luckily for Rackers, his defense bailed him out in overtime, but Graham may be out a job next year after his two crucial misses cost the Bengals a chance to defeat the Jets for their first playoff win in almost two decades.

Kaeding missed all three of his attempts.  The Chargers lost by only three points.

And that Suisham guy?  Well, he missed two kicks against the Vikings, though his new team, the Cowboys, lost by 31.

Last year, kickers made 844 out of 936 kicks, which is just over 90 percent.  This season, kickers made 721 out of 883 kicks, which is just under 82 percent.

Coaches seem to be less confident with their kickers, as made evident by the lower amount of attempts.

Another telling stat to illustrate the kicking woes is the median, or middle term, of the percentages. The median of the 2008 percentages was Josh Brown of the Rams at 86.1 percent, whereas in 2009, the median was the Patriots' Steven Gostkowski at 83.9 percent.

It's not just on field goals, either.  Last year, 25 kickers made every single extra point they attempted.  This year, only 17 accomplished the same feat.

What has happened to the level of kicking in the NFL?

Some could say that maybe more kicks are being blocked, which, based on the blocks per attempt, is true.  Twenty-one field goals were blocked last year, and 20 were blocked this year.  The blocked kicks can shatter the kicker's confidence and cause them to miss more. 

Also, 11 more extra points were blocked this season (14 in '09 compared to just three the previous year).  Blocked XPs are usually placed on the offensive line, but lower kicks could also be a factor, which could also be the case in regards to the blocked field goals.

Whatever it is, so-called "chip shots," like the 34-yard miss Rackers had with 14 seconds left today, or the 23-yard miss by Shaun Suisham, then of the Redskins, had back in Week 13, which would have defeated the then-undefeated Saints, aren't guaranteed anymore. 

You can't get up and leave to get a snack if a kicker has a chip shot anymore, because with kickers these days, anything is possible.