Columnist Sal DeFilippo: Width perception a big problem for Giants’ Bryant

Sal DeFilippo

Friday, Sept. 19, 2003 | 10:18 a.m.

Sal DeFilippo's pro football picks column appears Friday. Reach him at sal@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4076.

One kick. Fifty-three yards and change.

These kickers are all vastly overrated. Give me a ball and I can prove that I can be accurate, even at 53-plus, no problem. I'll just line it up and kick it. I could do it several times in a row. Piece of cake.

Gimme three steps and one good swing of the leg and I'm telling you, I won't let you down. How can anyone call this pressure? Just kick it straight and celebrate, baby.

Anyone who watched Monday's game at the Meadowlands can relate.

Now, let's be real. I'm not talking about making a 53-yard field goal. I can't even jog 53 yards, much less kick a football that far.

But I can kick it straight, and that's what I mean here -- I'm talking width, not depth.

An NFL field is 160 feet wide -- 53 yards plus. Yet, that still wasn't enough to prevent reputed kicker Matt Bryant of the Giants from extending his team's reputation as pioneers in special-teams buffoonery. Remember last year's season-ending debacle against San Francisco? Here's the next chapter.

Bryant had just made a 30-yard field goal to put New York ahead 32-29 with 11 seconds left. Barring a long return, the Cowboys were sunk. The kickoff return would surely use valuable time -- and possibly even end the game.

The only saving grace for Dallas would be for Bryant to foolishly kick the ball out of bounds. This would not save clock time, but would put the ball at the North Dallas 40, with enough time for a couple of plays.

Bryant went from hero to goat in one commercial break. His kickoff rolled out of bounds just before reaching the end zone.

That's just bad. Not bonehead, but forgivable bad. That's gut-wrenching, ESPN's "Playmakers" bad.

All he had to do was kick the ball straight. It's a tee shot with no bunkers or trees to worry about. Just kick it away from Jimmy Hoffa. It's that easy.

The Giants rallied from 16 down in the third quarter and Bryant couldn't close the deal. One nifty 26-yard pass play later, Dallas' Billy Cundiff sent the game into overtime with a 52-yard field goal, and then won the game with a record-tying seventh three-pointer.

On a weekend when the Buccaneers blew a game because they couldn't make an extra point, and the 49ers missed a chance at victory because wide receiver Cedrick Wilson attended the Chris Webber School of Clock Management, the Giants refused to be outdone.

I'm sure his teammates had several postgame suggestions on how to improve his directional kicking. Perhaps even a few offered to demonstrate on Bryant, specifically at an area that's a lot less wide.