Kickermania - thru week 6 & looking ahead to week 7
by Mike Herman, Exclusive to Footballguys.com
		2005 Kicking points (top five are highlighted)						2005 Kicking ppg						2005 Kdef				Week 7 matchup
TEAM	Current KICKER	standard total  rnk		attemptd total  rnk		bonus total  rnk		avg	rnk	home	rnk	away	rnk	ppg allw	rnk	hom factr	away factr	oppnt	Kdef factr	score avg	math proj I	math proj II	this week rank
Ari	Neil Rackers	58	1	58	2	69	1	11.6	1	13.0	1	9.5	1	6.4	15	0.80	1.20	TEN	1.30	13.0	17.0	9.0	1
notes	misses: none Rackers is averaging 13 points per game at home, while the Titans give up 9.7 kicking ppg on the road
Atl	Todd Peterson	42	9	42	19	44	15	7.0	11	7.3	17	6.7	10	5.8	11	0.90	0.70	NYJ	1.13	7.3	8.3	6.4	6
notes	misses: none Peterson could see numerous attempts this week, unless they're too long and the Falcons bring in everyone's favorite punter/long-kicker, Michael Koenen.
Bal	Matt Stover	27	26	36	23	29	26	5.4	25	6.0	26	4.5	21	5.6	7	1.00	1.05	@CHI	0.80	4.5	3.6	5.5	24
notes	misses: 38WL, 47WL, 45WR The Stover of old was back last week with 10 points. He begins a rough stretch this week, however, with four tough road matchups in six weeks.
Buf	Rian Lindell	47	4	50	8	53	4	7.8	5	10.8	4	2.0	31	5.3	6	0.75	1.04	@OAK	1.47	2.0	2.9	6.6	23
notes	misses: 45WR Lindell averages three FG attempts at home, but only one per game on the road.
Car	John Kasay	40	15	50	8	48	9	6.7	17	8.3	12	5.0	19	7.0	19	0.65	0.95	BYE
notes	misses: 53WL, 62WL, 52B, one extra point blocked
Chi	Robbie Gould	18	32	30	28	20	31	3.6	32	4.3	32	2.5	28	5.2	5	0.80	1.06	BAL	1.05	4.3	4.6	4.4	22
notes	misses:  Brien 48WL, 36WR, 39WL; Gould 48WL The Bears are averaging 6 kicking points per game against division foes, but only two per game against everyone else.
Cin	Shayne Graham	53	2	59	1	56	2	8.8	3	11.5	2	7.5	7	5.7	9	0.67	1.10	PIT	0.68	11.5	7.8	7.3	7
notes	misses: 42WR, 52WL Graham should improve significantly on the two points he scored when Pittsburgh came to town last year.
Cle	Phil Dawson	32	20	33	25	34	20	6.4	19	7.5	16	5.7	15	7.2	22	1.40	1.05	DET	1.32	7.5	9.9	6.8	13
notes	misses: one extra point blocked The Lions are allowing the second fewest kicking points per game.
Dal	Jose Cortez	45	8	55	4	48	9	7.5	10	10.7	5	4.3	22	6.5	18	0.63	1.50	@SEA	1.26	4.3	5.5	7.0	16
notes	misses:  41WL, 49B, 48WL, one extra point. Cortez is currently a top ten kicker. The last year a Cowboy kicker finished in the top ten was 1998 (Richie Cunningham).
Den	Jason Elam	39	16	54	6	44	15	6.5	18	6.8	20	6.0	14	5.8	11	0.82	0.58	@NYG	0.74	6.0	4.4	6.2	17
notes	misses: 53WL, 53WR, 46LU, 41WL, 46B Elam had no FG attempts the last two weeks.
Det	Jason Hanson	25	27	29	29	28	27	5.0	26	6.0	26	3.5	24	4.8	2	1.11	1.32	@CLE	1.40	3.5	4.9	4.9	21
notes	misses: Hanson 47B; Hamilton one extra point blocked. The last time Hanson played at Cleveland, he scored only two points.
GB	Ryan Longwell	24	28	28	30	26	28	4.8	28	6.7	21	2.0	31	5.8	10	0.65	0.90	@MIN	0.75	2.0	1.5	5.3	25
notes	misses: 42WL, one extra point Longwell scored in double digits each of the last two years when visiting Minnesota. He probably won't this year.
Hou	Kris Brown	22	30	25	31	24	30	4.4	29	6.5	24	3.0	26	10.2	32	1.35	0.87	IND	0.46	6.5	3.0	7.3	26
notes	misses:  56WR The number 30 kicker vs. the number one kicking defense.
Ind	Mike Vanderjagt	37	19	40	21	38	19	6.2	20	6.7	21	5.7	15	4.2	1	1.00	0.46	@HOU	1.35	5.7	7.7	5.2	8
notes	misses: 48WL Three of five opposing kickers have scored in double digit against the Texans.
Jac	Josh Scobee	42	9	48	12	49	8	7.0	11	8.7	9	5.3	18	5.8	11	1.07	0.65	BYE
notes	misses: 43WL, 42WL
KC	Lawrence Tynes	39	16	45	15	41	17	7.8	6	8.0	14	7.5	7	6.4	15	0.75	1.26	@MIA	0.93	7.5	7.0	7.1	19
notes	misses: 32WL, 46B Keep an eye on the weather report / hurricane status for this game.
Mia	Olindo Mare	29	23	32	27	33	21	5.8	22	9.5	8	3.3	25	6.4	15	0.93	1.00	KC	1.26	9.5	12.0	6.1	9
notes	misses: 21WL Keep an eye on the weather report / hurricane status for this game.
Min	Paul Edinger	29	23	38	22	33	21	5.8	22	11.0	3	2.3	30	7.8	26	0.75	1.13	GB	0.90	11.0	9.9	6.8	10
notes	misses: 33RU, 52WR, 32SH Edinger has been a viable fantasy kicker when the Vikings play at home.
NE	Adam Vinatieri	42	9	52	7	45	13	7.0	11	5.5	28	7.8	5	7.0	19	0.86	1.06	BYE
notes	misses: 53WL, 37WR, 53WR, blocked extra point
NO	John Carney	42	9	57	3	45	13	7.0	11	10.0	6	5.5	17	8.8	30	1.00	1.16	@STL	1.65	5.5	9.1	7.9	5
notes	misses: 29LU, 32WL, 43WL, 43WR, 47B Carney had his biggest game of 2004 at St. Louis, scoring 16 points. The Rams have now given up nine or more kicking points in five straight games.
NYG	Jay Feely	47	4	47	14	51	6	9.4	2	9.7	7	9.0	2	7.2	22	0.74	1.01	DEN	0.58	9.7	5.6	8.3	14
notes	misses:  none Feely, the top free agent kicker this past offseason, is performing well... perfect on FGs and strong on kickoffs.
NYJ	Mike Nugent	24	28	33	25	26	28	4.0	30	5.0	30	3.0	26	7.7	25	1.50	1.13	@ATL	0.90	3.0	2.7	5.8	27
notes	misses: 28B, 40WR, 48WL Nugent has had only one FG attempt in each road game so far this year.
Oak	Sebastian Janikowski	30	21	42	19	32	23	6.0	21	6.7	21	5.0	19	7.6	24	1.47	1.00	BUF	1.04	6.7	7.0	6.8	12
notes	misses: 43WL, 50WL, 49LU, 37WL Janikowski scored 7 points when Buffalo came to town last year.
Phi	Todd France	30	21	43	18	32	23	5.0	26	5.5	28	6.3	13	7.0	19	1.40	0.88	SD	0.91	5.5	5.0	6.0	19
notes	misses: Akers 49SH, 49WR, 43LU; Simoneau one extra point; France 40B.  "He is getting better every day. It's just going to take a bit of time, which we understand. He won't be ready this week and we will see about next week." - Andy Reid on David Akers
Pit	Jeff Reed	38	18	44	17	40	18	7.6	9	7.7	15	7.5	7	5.6	7	0.94	0.68	@CIN	0.67	7.5	5.0	6.6	15
notes	misses: 52WL, 46WR Reed had two of his slower games last year against the Bengals (4 and 5 points).
SD	Nate Kaeding	50	3	50	8	54	3	8.3	4	8.3	12	8.3	3	6.0	14	0.92	0.91	@PHI	1.40	8.3	11.7	7.2	4
notes	misses: none Both previous visiting kickers in Philadelphia this year scored above their average.
Sea	Josh Brown	42	9	48	12	46	12	7.0	11	7.3	17	6.7	10	8.2	28	1.26	1.00	DAL	1.50	7.3	11.0	7.6	2
notes	misses:  47WL, 47LU Brown had had either zero or three FG attempts in every game this year. This week looks like a three attempter.
SF	Joe Nedney	19	31	19	32	19	32	3.8	31	4.7	31	2.5	28	8.8	29	0.71	1.28	@WAS	0.58	2.5	1.4	6.3	28
notes	misses:  none Nothing to see here... move along.
StL	Jeff Wilkins	46	6	49	11	51	6	7.7	7	7.0	19	8.0	4	10.2	31	1.65	1.14	NO	1.16	7.0	8.1	8.9	11
notes	misses: 48WL If Wilkins remains in the top ten at year's end, he'll continue his pattern of top ten finishes every other year.
TB	Matt Bryant	42	9	45	15	47	11	7.0	11	6.3	25	7.7	6	5.0	4	2.00	0.60	BYE
notes	misses: 46WR
Ten	Rob Bironas	46	6	55	4	52	5	7.7	7	8.7	9	6.7	10	7.8	27	0.93	1.30	@ARI	0.80	6.7	5.3	7.8	18
notes	misses: 47WR, 38WL, 58SH (freekick) Bironas has been a nice find for the Titans, particularly on kickoffs.
Was	Nick Novak	29	23	35	24	32	23	5.8	22	8.5	11	4.0	23	4.8	2	0.58	0.66	SF	1.28	8.5	10.8	5.3	3
notes	misses: Hall none, Novak 39B, 38B John Hall has been upgraded to probable and may kick in this week's game.
NOTES:
1.	All stats are based on Standard Scoring of 3 points for field goals and 1 point for extra points
	(except for the Bonus Total column which increases 40-49 yard FG's to 4 points, and FG's of 50 yards and over to 5 points)
2.	"Attempted" = maximum number of kicking points the team could have had if they made every kick
3.	The Kdefensive "factors" are the median by which teams allow kicking points, as compared to their opponents average scoring
	(i.e. smaller numbers under 1.0 equal better kicking defense, larger numbers over 1.0 = not so good)
4.	Weekly matchup numbers: the "Mathematical Projection I" is the "Kscoring" multiplied by the "Kdefensive Factor"
	Mathematical Projection II is simply the average of the Kicking ppg scored and the Kicking points allowed by the opponent
5.	Misses key: SH = short, WR = wide right, WL = wide left, CR = cross bar, RU = right upright, LU = left upright, B = blocked, T = tipped
Mike Herman's Weekly Kicker Rankings ***
Rank	Player
1	Neil Rackers
2	Josh Brown
3	Nick Novak / John Hall
4	Nate Kaeding
5	John Carney
6	Todd Peterson
7	Shayne Graham
8	Mike Vanderjagt
9	Olindo Mare
10	Paul Edinger
11	Jeff Wilkins
12	Sebastian Janikowski
13	Phil Dawson
14	Jay Feely
15	Jeff Reed
16	Jose Cortez
17	Jason Elam
18	Rob Bironas
19	Lawrence Tynes
19	Todd France
21	Jason Hanson
22	Robbie Gould
23	Rian Lindell
24	Matt Stover
25	Ryan Longwell
26	Kris Brown
27	Mike Nugent
28	Joe Nedney
	*** Note: These rankings differ from the official Footballguys.com rankings