Minnesota Vikings trying out potential Dan Bailey replacement

After missing all four kicks on Sunday, the Minnesota Vikings have to be willing to move off Dan Bailey. 

Kicking issues have been a problem for the Minnesota Vikings for quite sometime. No one wants to go back and relive that easy chip shot missed from Blair Walsh, right?

Unfortunately, things haven’t gotten better since the arrival of Dan Bailey. On Sunday, the kicking took took an all-time low as the former Dallas Cowboys star missed all four kicks in a 26-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. What makes matters worse is their now potential playoff status.

Entering Week 15, the Vikings now have a 22 percent chance into making the NFC playoff picture, according to ESPN’s Football Power Index. and with a must-win game ahead against NFC North rival and same 6-7 record Chicago Bears, the Vikings are looking other options.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Vikings are trying out former Jets kicker Taylor Bertolet in hopes he could be the answer. There currently is no status on if Bertolet would be active for the team’s Week 15 match up as of this moment.

Could this be the end for Bailey?

Bailey was wide left on his extra-point attempt after Dalvin Cook’s first quarter touchdown and and pushed  field goals to the right from 36, and 46 yards out. However the kicker was from 54 yards out where the ball wasn’t even close to making it in to the back of the end zone, let alone the goal post.

That left 10 points on the board and changed the game for Minnesota. Tom Brady played average and while Kirk Cousins was sacked six times, he still managed to have a decent game. Instead, the Vikings now are back to fighting from the outside in with the playoffs looking less and less likely.

The kicking woes haven’t been just there. In Week 13, Bailey missed a pair of extra points and a field goal attempt at the end of regulation that would have ended the game against the Jaguars. Instead, the team needed overtime to settle the score.

Sadly, kickers need to have short memories to survive in the NFL. Instead, this lingering issue could mean the end for Bailey in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.