[UPDATE: The Giants brought in Josh Huston and Billy Cundiff for tryouts Tuesday. Sounds to me like Coach Tom Coughlin has little patience for kicking woes. Huston barely lost the kicking competition to Tynes this year, and might end up kicking in the Meadowlands yet.]
Lawrence Tynes missed an extra point and a 34-yard field goal Sunday night against Philadelphia.
Should the Giants be worried about Tynes, the fourth-year kicker they got from Kansas City in an off-season trade?
Tynes is now 7-of-9 on field goals (77.8%), right near his 78.1 career percentage. He is also 7-of-8 on extra points.
Tynes is not Adam Vinatieri or the younger version of Morten Anderson. He is also, however, not a bum.
Give him a good snap and a good hold and I think Tynes will be just fine.
Personally, I'm more worried about rookie snapper Jay Alford. His snaps are erratic, and the one on the missed extra point Sunday was horrible as it was behind holder Jeff Feagles.
The Giants don't have many internal options. Zak DeOssie, who has been pretty much flawless on punts, has never snapped for field goals and extra points. Starting center Shaun O'Hara hasn't done snapping for field goals in several years.
What should the Giants do? Replace Tynes? Sign a long-snapping specialist and replace Alford? Let DeOssie learn on the job? Just stay the course and hope Alford gets more consistent?
In the NFL, one or two plays can make or break a season. I sure hope the Giants playoff chances don't rest on Alford's ability snap the ball straight.