Quick Kicks
A good celebration spoiled
Nick Lowery hoped he could celebrate his NFL record for career field goals Sunday, but all he cared about was a 36-yard miss that cost the New York Jets a chance at their first victory.
Lowery’s 20-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter was the 374th of his career, beating the mark set by Jan Stenerud.
On the Jets’ next series, John Hudson bounced the snap and Lowery missed a 36-yarder to the left that would have made it 21-20. Instead, New York lost to Jacksonville 21-17.
Asked whether he savored the record, Lowery said, “Maybe 20 years from now, when I’m sitting by the fire roasting marshmallows. Right now, for me, I didn’t make a kick late in the game.”
Lowery replaced Stenerud with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1980 and joined the Jets in 1994.
After being cut by eight teams, two of them twice, before he landed with the Chiefs, Lowery has made 374 of 467 field goals and has the best percentage (80) of any kicker.
First he huffed, then he …
Carolina’s Kevin Greene needed a few plays off after running 66 yards with a fumble. He probably could have used a rest stop as well.
Greene’s moment came late in the first quarter when St. Louis Rams quarterback Tony Banks was tackled by Shawn King at the Carolina 30. The ball squirted loose and Greene scooped it up at the 34. All that was left was for the 34-year-old, 12-year veteran to get to the end zone.
St. Louis wide receiver Eddie Kennison went after the lumbering linebacker, but Kennison only gained a close-up of Greene doing a flop into the end zone and rolling over on his back. Greene had one last task.
“Praising the good Lord for continuing to fill my lungs with air,” he said. “Let me keep breathing.”
Many happy returns
Desmond Howard already has returned 26 punts for the Green Bay Packers.
That’s as many as NFL leader David Palmer returned all of last season, when Todd Kinchen of St. Louis returned a league-high 53 punts. At his current pace, Howard would return his 53rd punt in the 13th game.
The NFL record for returns in one season is 70 by Danny Reece of Tampa Bay in 1979. If he maintains his current pace, Howard would return 69.
Numerically speaking
Washington’s Terry Allen didn’t run for a TD for the first time in 11 games… . Irving Fryar of the Eagles caught six passes and moved into 18th place with 586 career receptions … Dallas defeated Arizona for the 12th straight time… . Buffalo’s Chris Mohr had a team-record, 80-yard punt… . Tampa Bay’s starting offensive line of Paul Gruber, Jim Pyne, Tony Mayberry, Ian Beckles and Doug Reisenberg was healthy enough to begin a game together for the first time since training camp… . The Bengals haven’t had a 100-yard rusher in 55 games since Harold Green gained 190 on Dec. 20, 1992.
Quotable
“If I was on the outside looking in, I would rip this team. I’m tired of going in there on Monday morning and the coach saying, ‘We did some good things, I saw some improvement, we played hard - but.’ When are guys going to get tired of that ‘but?’ “
- Atlanta’s Terance Mathis.