What happened to Saints’ veteran kicker Wil Lutz?
The special teams woes for the Saints continue as Will Lutz misses again and could be preparing Sean Payton to have some tough decisions in the playoffs.
New Orleans Saints kicker Wil Lutz has been struggling as of late, missing four of his last seven field-goal attempts since November 11, 2020.
This has been a rude awakening to Saints fans after starting the year making 18 of 19 attempts. Lutz is now 21 of 26 made field goals and leaving fans wondering what is going on with the fifth-year pro that’s shown so much promise.
It didn’t make things any better by missing his first extra point of the season this week against the Carolina Panthers in the first half of the week 17 meeting. Many amongst Saints Twitter voiced almost identical concerns:
What is going on with Lutz?
— Katherine Terrell (@Kat_Terrell) January 3, 2021
.@Saints lead 13-7 after Lutz misses the PAT. Not sure what the deal was there
— John DeShazier (@JohnDeShazier) January 3, 2021
Normally, Saints K Wil Lutz and P Thomas Morstead are two "sure things" that you never have to worry about that give New Orleans an extra edge. Both have shown more inconsistency than we're used to.
— Mike Triplett (@MikeTriplett) January 3, 2021
Lutz did end up redeeming himself by making two field goals and three extra points against the Panthers, but the missed chip shot still has fans worried. It was quite a sight to see kickers being worked out by the Saints per a report by John Hendrix.
This had fans wondering if this was injury-related or a performance issue. Lutz has not appeared in any injury reports to miss any games, so leaning towards performance may be the right call.
While there is much to worry about with the roster for the Saints with the playoffs upcoming, Saints fans should know Lutz is still one of the best kickers in the league despite his missteps, and these past few games should not be seen as a full body of his work.
The man is clutch and showed he was great after his missed extra point. Many teams have struggled to find consistent kickers and a handful of misses shouldn’t hurt Lutz’s rock-solid reputation quite yet.
This doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be monitored, but Lutz should not be looked at as being in any competition unless this continues. It appears he will be fine and he will be the go-to kicker for the Saints this postseason.
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The Saints will need Lutz to be precise as they face the Chicago Bears next weekend. The good news is that he will not be kicking in Chicago, but the indoors of the Mercedes Benz Superdome.