Mare picture perfect
Seahawks kicker has made 25 straight FGs
A year ago, Olindo Mare was coming off a game against the Chicago Bears where he missed two field goals and had his head coach blast him in a postgame press conference.
Since then he’s been perfect.
Seattle’s kicker has gone a full calendar year without missing. He’s converted 25 consecutive field goals and 31 extra-point attempts. His streak is the longest of his career and a Seahawks franchise record.
Just don’t try bringing the streak up to Mare.
“Don’t jinx it,” Mare said.
Even coach Pete Carroll didn’t want to test the kicking gods when asked about Mare’s consistency.
“Next question, please,” Carroll said with a grin.
Superstitions or not, Mare has reverted to form as one of the more complete kickers in the league.
In addition to his field-goal accuracy, Mare continues to be among the league leaders in touchback percentage. He’s sixth in the league with just less than 30 percent of his kickoffs going for touchbacks.
Mare missed two of his six field-goal attempts in a 25-19 loss to the Bears in Week 3 last season. Despite the misses, he hit a 46-yard field goal with just more than 5 minutes left to give the Seahawks a 19-17 advantage.
But the defense couldn’t hold and Jay Cutler led the Bears on a drive that resulted in a 36-yard touchdown pass to Devin Hester to give Chicago the victory.
After the game, then-head coach Jim Mora took out his frustrations on Mare.
Mora softened his criticism the day after the game, saying the reasons they lost extended well beyond Mare’s missed kicks.
McCoy ready for Steelers
Colt McCoy made it through practice unscathed. Next, he has to survive Pittsburgh’s petrifying defense.
Barring an unforeseen development, Cleveland’s rookie quarterback will make his first NFL start Sunday when the Browns visit the blitz-crazed Steelers, who are certain to come after McCoy from the moment he steps on the turf at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field.
McCoy has been thrust into the starting lineup following injuries to Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace, who are both nursing high ankle sprains and could be sidelined for several weeks. Browns coach Eric Mangini refused to rule out Wallace and Delhomme for Sunday, but neither looks ready to play.
Around the league
Brett Favre is listed as questionable for Minnesota’s game Sunday against Dallas. He had only limited practice this week for the Vikings while trying to rest his ailing right elbow, which has been bothered by tendinitis. … Saints leading rusher Pierre Thomas will miss his third straight game on Sunday in Tampa Bay while he continues to rehabilitate a left ankle sprain. … Jason Campbell will start at quarterback for the Oakland Raiders this week against San Francisco in place of the injured Bruce Gradkowski (shoulder). … Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (shoulder) is practicing again in a limited role. He was upgraded to questionable on the team’s injury report, but if activated he would likely serve as the backup to Shaun Hill. … The NFL rejected Antwan Odom’s appeal and suspended the Bengals’ defensive end four games for violating its policy on performance-enhancing substances.