Quarterback is one of the most pressure-filled positions in sports – but kicker may be far behind. A few inches are all that separates a kicker from being a hero or just another chapter in the complicated “doink” history books.
Not all doinks are created equal. Others hit the post and found the right way. Unfortunately, most don’t end that way, and those loud misses often come at the game’s most important moments.
Over the past 15 years, we’ve seen a mix of doinks that have been sad, funny and scary. For that reason, the top 10 list we’ve compiled has one from each group.
Without further ado, here are the 10 most memorable places of all time.
Especially for the lowest kicks on this list, Dustin Hopkins is one of the lucky few who saw their kicks hit a straight and bounce. A 53-yard field goal hit the high left field goal, but went wide to give the Commanders a 10-3 lead in the third quarter. Washington would later extend the lead to 13-3 with another Hopkins field goal and eventually win the game 20-13.
A bad time to make your kick go up, Graham Gano’s miss happened during Super Bowl 50. The kick didn’t affect the final score – the Broncos won 24-10 – but it didn’t. momentum and prevent Carolina from cutting Denver’s third-quarter lead from 13-7 to 13-10. The 44-yarder connected high on the right side, a bad break for someone who had missed a kick a month and a half earlier.
One of the longest kicks in the lineup, Harrison Butker was able to finesse the ball from the left and sneak in to extend the Chiefs’ lead against their division rival. Butker’s kick, which had plenty of power behind it, went wide left and cleared the goal post to give KC a 10-0 lead over the Broncos in the first quarter.
The game-winning doink! With the Chiefs and Broncos tied in the regular season on Sunday night, the game ended in overtime. Cairo Santos’ 34-yard field goal would have won the game for the Chiefs or led to a tie. His kick, which had a LOT of power, hit the top left and right and bounced off two goals for the Chiefs to win the divisional game.
No yardage counted here because Packers kicker Mason Crosby had perhaps his worst day as a pro and gave us not one, but two doinks in the same game, en route to a total of four missed field goals (and one extra point) on the afternoon. As you might have guessed, neither man made it through the field, a disappointing performance in which the final score was 31-23 – an eight-point loss for Green Bay.
One of the most impactful kicks on the roster, Zane Gonzalez’s bank goal gave Washington its first playoff win since the 2005 season. The 37-yard boot bounced to the right and curled into the top of the right before breaking through the posts and giving the Commanders a road win. Not all doinks are created equal, and this was one of the funniest endings you’ll ever see when you hear that sound.
If we go to No. 4, we have not one, but two doinks on the same kick. Wil Lutz, of course, was attempting a 61-yard field goal and looking to tie the game as time expired against the Vikings. The ball, which clearly had enough leg, bounced to the left and then bounced back up before bouncing back in front of the goal posts. The kick was inches away from sending the game into overtime, but instead, Minnesota walked away with a 28-25 win in London.
The all-time doink record goes to Cody Parkey. In addition to appearing on this list more than once (more on that later), he had four mysterious doinks in one game against Detroit in 2018. All four kicks hit the goalposts, and three ended up hitting each other. one post on the right and one against the left. Two of the kicks were field goal attempts, and the two field goals were 41 yards and 34 attempts.
Justin Tucker proved he is the greatest of all time after making the most unlikely kick in the history of the game. Shortly after the Ravens converted a fourth-and-19 pass to give them a first down with seconds remaining, John Harbaugh opted to attempt a 66-yard field goal instead of a Hail Mary, with his team down 17-16. As time expired, Tucker hit the longest kick in NFL history to win the game for Baltimore, the ball bounced off the floor and went through the goal, sealing the win and shocking coach Dan Campbell and Detroit.
The most infamous doink in the history of doinks. Parkey had the opportunity to play the Bears and send them to the divisional stage against the Eagles. Unfortunately, the 43-yard field goal attempt from Parkey had other ideas. The kick, which had distance, started down the middle and connected left to right, ended up connecting to the middle of the post and falling straight back, with no lucky ricochet to save the team. The miss happened with five seconds left and the Eagles went up 16-15, advancing Philadelphia to the playoffs.
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