NFL Highlights: John Kasay’s Missed Field Goal Costs Panthers The Game Against Browns
It was a tough sight for former Carolina Panther Jake Delhomme to watch, so he closed his eyes and let his ears take over.
His former teammate, John Kasay, was lining up for a game winning field goal. He kicked the ball and as it went soaring towards the uprights and another last-play win for the Panthers; Delhomme hoped that he would miss.
The roar of the crowd at Cleveland Browns Stadium that followed meant only one thing.
Kasay missed.
His 42 yard field goal went right towards the uprights, but went wide, just barely missing by grazing the left upright.
The 4-7 Browns escaped with a too-close-for-comfort victory over the 1-9 Panthers, 24-23, with Delhomme breathing a sigh of relief and satisfaction against the team that cut him off.
"There are two emotions in this league," Delhomme said. "Pure joy from winning and the misery of losing. It's good to be on this side."
Kasay is known as one of the most accurate kickers in the NFL, both present and past. He had a chance at his 14th last second, game-winning field goal, but barely missed.
"I was the one who failed," Kasay said, accepting blame for Carolina's fourth straight loss. "This is one of those days where they did everything they needed to do to win. I was the one who let them down. There's no other way to cut it."
"It was an incredible range of emotions," Browns tackle Joe Thomas said. "The craziest game I have ever been involved in."
It must’ve been, seeing as the Browns were leading 21-7 at halftime. Peyton Hills racked up 131 rushing yards and also three TDs. Delhomme played in his first game in eight weeks after being out with an ankle injury. It would have been an embarrassing loss
for Delhomme, since he threw a game-changing interception to Captain Munnerlyn, who returned it 37 yards for a TD, brings the score to 21-20, still to the Browns.
"The bottom line is we got a win," Delhomme said.
The game started off in the Panthers’ favor, with Mike Goodson running for a 26 yard TD. Afterwards, the Browns got two TDs within five minutes of each other, both with Hills rushing, once for 9 yards and again for 5. At the end of the first, the score was
14-7, to the Browns.
In the beginning of the second, Hills ran for his third TD, this time for 6 yards, to bring the Browns to 21, with Carolina still at 7. The Panthers responded with Kasay kicking two FGs, once for 43 yards and once for 42 to bring them to 13, with the Browns
still ahead at 21.
In the third quarter, Delhomme’s costly interception allowed Munnerlyn to score a TD on an interception return, making it a close game at 21-20, with the Browns still ahead.
The fourth quarter was a battle of the field goals. First, Kasay kicked a FG for 43 yards to bring them ahead for the first time in the game, 21-23. Cleveland responded by kicking their first FG of the game, with Phil Dawson successfully attempting a 41
yard kick, making it 24-23, with the game back to the Browns.
Next game Kasay’s 15th game winning field goal attempt, but luckily for the Browns, he missed.
Hills scored his 11th TD this season in the second quarter, to join Hall of Famers Leroy Kelly and Jim Brown as the only Cleveland backs to do so in a season.
"That's absurd," Hillis said about the comparison. "Those guys are legends and I'm a nobody."
Strangely enough, the Browns had never won a game against the Panthers before this one, but it seems to be more because of Carolina’s bad luck than Cleveland’s skill.
The Panthers will play their next game against the NFC West leader Seattle Seahawks on Sunday December 5 in Seattle, while the Browns will against the slightly better Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium on the same day.
Stay tuned!
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