Spotlight: Lawrence Tynes

by Ed Valentine on Jun 18, 2009 11:00 AM EDT in News Comment 19 comments

Mention the name Lawrence Tynes to a New York Giants' fan -- like I'm doing here, Lawence Tynes, Lawrence Tynes, Lawrence Tynes -- and you are likely to get a whole mixed bag of reactions.

There is the 'hero Tynes' reaction, from those who remember him for his game-winning field goal against Green Bay two seasons ago in the NFC Championship game.
There is the 'Tynes stinks' reaction, from those who remember his two misses in that game, and some erratic moments with him during the 2007 regular season.
There is the 'Tynes is an idiot' reaction, from those who want to pick on him for missing most of 2008 with an injury -- suffered right after complaining about the practice field at UAlbany.

No matter what your reaction to Tynes, you might as well get used to him. John Carney, who subbed spectacularly for Tynes last season (35-for-38 in field goals, including two blocks) and kept him chained to the bench, is gone. Barring injury, Tynes is your kicker. For better or worse.

Tynes is hardly a bum. He is a quality NFL kicker who has made 92-of-115 career field-goal attempts (80 percent). In 2007, he went 23-of-27 (85.2 percent) for the Giants. On kickoffs he won't put the ball through the end zone all the time, but he's got a strong leg.

In a release from the Giants, Tynes said he made the most of what was basically a year of inactivity in 2008 (he only appeared in three games).

“I feel great, I’ve lost some weight and I’ve changed my technique on field goals and kickoffs,” Tynes said. “I made my stance a little more upright and lead with the chest more. I’m not a hundred percent comfortable with that yet, but when I do hit the ball and I do get in a groove, it’s amazing how well I’m kicking the ball. I’m not missing with the ball to the right as much as I used to. My misses are more left, which is a good thing. I think it’s going to help me in the long run.

“If you don’t you’re always going to be the same. And I think what I did in ’07 wasn’t good enough, to be honest with you. I just wanted to change something and work on that. I’m doing well with it, but when I feel confident about everything I’ll be a better kicker for it.”

Tynes is going to stick around once mini-camp ends to continue working on his technique changes. He is aiming to be at least as efficient this season as Carney was in 2008.

“I think what John did last year set the bar pretty high with what I need to do,” Tynes said. “Someone asked me what I expect to do this year and I said, ‘What John did and better.’ He was at 92 percent and I have to be there or higher, which I can do and we can do as a unit and as a team. We don’t want any drop off from what John did. I hope I can exceed that or be around that number. That’s my goal.”

If he comes close to that, I don't think Giants' fans will have anything to complain about.

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Wow

That’s some pretty lofty goals there Tynes. To do what Carney did was nothing short of awesome, IMO. 35 out of 38 is great for any K, for any season. But to duplicate that, how often does lightening strike the same place twice? Especially in Giants Stadium!

by Hootman on Jun 18, 2009 11:53 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

35 of 38 is great

except when all but one of your misses comes late in the season in big games and then you miss one in the playoffs that would have given the Giants the lead in the game.

by cjmulrain on Jun 18, 2009 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Uugh, i know

For being so darn near perfect, he kind of picked the wrong time for misses!

by Hootman on Jun 18, 2009 12:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

NFC Championship game

My wife’s father gave us his tickets to the AFC Championship game. “I’ve seen it,” he told her."
We headed up early, tailgated with steak & lobster, etc… a friend even came just to tailgate and stayed out in the freezing cold. After standing for the entire game (a crummy game if you ask me) we headed out to the lot in time for the Giants’ kickoff.
We watched the 1st quarter on another tailgater’s mini TV but decided to hit the road after Farvray hit Driver for that long touchdown.
We got off the highway quickly when we saw an Applebee’s sign, because I knew they have a bar. But waiting for my first beer I got in a fight with someone who was in Applebee’s by choice.
Luckily there was a bar next door, where me, my wife, my friend Murf, and I settled in for the Giants game. There was a group of 4 Pats fans in a booth, otherwise the place was pretty dead.
My heart was already palpitating from McQuarters’ interception fumble, so Tynes’ 2 understandable yet heartbreaking misses had me nearing a conniption. When the game went to OT I was feeling fatalistic. First team posession, right? When (Webster?) pulled down that INT we went bonkers, but facing the same field-goal range or better, I didn’t exactly feel confident.
I actually turned my back to the bar TVs and knelt on the floor head in hands at a booth for the attempt. For a moment I thought everyone was effing with me when they said “It’s good!”
That is why I like Tynes (not to mention I remember Jay Feely). It’s also why I turn my back on his field goal attempts from now on.

You play to win the game!

by Simms-McConkey on Jun 18, 2009 12:42 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

i remember going

hmmm, do you go for the first down here or punt. And while I was thinking all of a sudden the FG unit is snapping the ball. I was like WHAT THE HELL? If I remember correctly didn’t TC not even call the play, I think Tynes just ran out there.

by queler on Jun 19, 2009 10:44 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not as efficient

with tracking down statistics as others, but maybe someone could verify the distances Carney was kicking in 2008, versus what Tynes was kicking in 2007. To me, it seemed the couching staff knew Carney’s range was more limited, and so only opted for FGs when it was about 7-10 yards closer than what they would have attempted with Tynes.

by rzor on Jun 18, 2009 12:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I actually thought the same thing

This is what the numbers tell us:

Tynes attempts in 2007: 1 from 10-19 yards, 10 from 20-29 yards, 8 from 30-39, 8 from 40-49, 0 from 50+.
Carney in 2008: 0 from 10-19, 15 from 20-29, 15 from 30-39, 7 from 40-49, 1 from 50 +

So Carney had more attempts and they were mostly from the 20-39 range. Not much difference from long/short distance. You might say that a higher percentage of Tynes were from longer distance (at 40+ yards: 8.4% vs 8.3%), but if Carney is going to get more attempts, then they likely are going to end up being in that intermediate range where kickers get more attempts.

by potroast on Jun 18, 2009 4:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for the legwork on that data

That actually dispels some of the assumptions and perceptions I had regarding Carney vs. Tynes FG attempts.

by rzor on Jun 18, 2009 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Actually

Those percentages are wrong (I don’t know where that math came from!).

30% of Tynes were from 40+, while only 21% of Carney’s were. So we might be correct in our assumptions. I think it’d be interesting to get actual distances rather than ranges to do real stats on, but I don’t know where those are.

by potroast on Jun 18, 2009 4:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It might be interesting to know

beyond how it affects the perception of Tynes reliability as a kicker, but also the coaching decisions made.

For example, my offense is facing 3rd and 8 at the 23 yard line. If I have a kicker that can convert a 40yd FG, I might go for all 8 yards. If the kicker has a shorter accurate range, perhaps I’ll call a play for a 5yd hook route under the coverage, and put my kicker in a position for a more high percentage 35yd FG.

On the game summary it will be another missed touchdown opportunity in the red zone, which might be a failing of the offense and the OC, but in reality this may have been a situation dictated by the range of the kicker in accordance with the risk/reward play calling Coughlin and Gilbride employed in the game plan.

by rzor on Jun 18, 2009 5:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's a good point

And I remember having the perception that was what was going on in the games last year. Unfortunately, I think you’d have to be inside the coaches’ brains to determine the answer to that.

by potroast on Jun 18, 2009 5:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

.....

Giants still need a kicker for kickoffs.

Special teams is eventually gonna kill this team cuz their kickoffs are constantly >10 yard line.

by FreeBradshaw on Jun 18, 2009 1:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

+1

by brisulph on Jun 18, 2009 2:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Two kickers

You might as well get used to Tynes. The Giants won’t do the two kicker thing again, so whatever Tynes gives them on kickoffs is going to have to be good enough. Guaranteed it will be an improvement over Carney’s kickoffs.

by Ed Valentine on Jun 18, 2009 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Actually I thought Carney did at least as good as Tynes

on most of his kickoffs. At least they seemed higher to me. I could live with one kicker but please let it be one who can do both parts of his job well.

Sooner or later Tynes will break our hearts, because he has not shown the kind of consistancy needed by a playoff team. He is only still on the roster because he made the kick in overtime that wouldn’t have been necessary had he made the easier kick earlier in the game.

by giant fan since 57 on Jun 19, 2009 5:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's kind of sad isn't it?

That Carney was absolutely horrible on kickoffs, yet he did as good as Tynes?

Where the hell is Brad Daluiso?

Better yet, where the hell do the Patriots find their kicker? I mean Vinateri then now Gostkowski is already one of the top K’s in the league.

And its really not like Gillette is a dome either.

by FreeBradshaw on Jun 21, 2009 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not a Tynes fan

and I can’t get sentimental about him making the NFC Championship kick. If he had missed that kick, he would be the Aaron Heilman of the Giants

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by Jim Schmiedeberg on Jun 18, 2009 3:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Was that really necessary?

Just another gratuitous shot at the Mets. Unbelievable.

"We were very much aware of that. There was a lot of phone call-type things going on in the room." -- Tom Coughlin

by Mr. Met on Jun 18, 2009 3:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I like Tynes

He’s an above average kicker and a good guy. Jay Feely would have missed all three kicks against the Pack.. and he would have showed up on TV the next day to tell Skip Bayless why he doesn’t suck.

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by Hoyadestroya85 on Jun 18, 2009 6:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs