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Jim Mora Harangues Place Kicker For His Solecisms
Seattle Seahawks head coach Jim Mora Jr. took extreme umbrage to his place kicker’s gaffes on Sunday. Olindo Mare missed on two field goal attempts in the Seahawks 25-19 home loss to the Chicago Bears.
During his post game news conference, Mora said, “No excuses … You’ve got to make those kicks, especially when you’re in a game like this kicking and fighting and scratching and playing your tail off and you miss those kicks.”
Besides his indiscretions which are listed below, Jim Mora had reviewed a Bears touchdown that was clearly not going to be reversed. The error in judgement cost the team a timeout.
You can see and hear his comments below.
Mora has since back away from those remarks and admitted emotions got the better of him. Still, the Seahawk he should have been lambasting the most was himself. Mare didn’t cause Seattle to fail, Mora did.
‘Tis true that Mare should have made those field goals, after all they were from the makeable distances of 43- and 34-yards. Mare has already missed three field goals this year, the same number of errant boots he had all of last season.
Besides the two misses, Mare made four field goals (46, 37, 39 and 46). In fact, Mare scored more points Sunday than anyone on either team.
Also, Mare field goal percentage (if we may use such a term in football) was 66%. That number was better than Seahawks quarterback Seneca Wallace’s pass completion percentage. Mare’s 66% was also better than the Seahawks’ 3rd down conversion and red zone scoring percentages.
While Mare missed on two field goal attempts, Wallace missed open receivers all day. T.J. Houshmandzadeh had a costly fumble and Seahawk defenders collided on the last two meaningful offensive plays executed by the Bears. Both of the foolish looking collisions rendered the Seahawk defenders impotent.
Mora made nary a mention of those lapses. Nor did he mention the team’s poor clock management and passive play calling at the end of the first half—which, if we’re not mistaken, falls on the shoulders of Seahawk coaches, namely Mora.
The final drive of the game, a drive in which the Seahawks could have ultimately scored the go-ahead touchdown, was riddled with brow-furrowing play calls. Again, that responsibility falls under the auspices of the coaching staff which is lead by Mora.
The Seahawks had more first downs, they were more efficient on third down, they had more rushing and passing yards than the Bears; the turnovers were equal; the time of possession was almost identical; and the Seahawks still lost.
When viewed that way, the defeat doesn’t sound like the kicker’s fault. It sounds like the fault of the head coach.
Yes, Mora recanted the gist of his game day tirade, but the alacrity and intensity in which he blamed the defeat on his place kicker was utterly garish.
[...] Had Schmitt been lost for the game Mora probably would have blamed the kicker. [...]