A tale of two kicks.
Big, bad Oakland Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski drove his powerful left leg forward for a 54-yard field-goal attempt Sunday night at Invesco Field. Janikowski pulverized the ball into a soaring missile. It crossed high along the goalposts, stopping only after it pelted the net protecting the stands.
It missed wide right. Not by much, but just enough to give the Broncos such great field position that their offense was able to score its first touchdown of the season in the first quarter.
Next Broncos series, the little kicker that almost always can set up for a 51-yard field goal toward the same goalposts. Jason Elam swung his right leg easily but surely. Although the kick had plenty of oomph, it didn’t nearly match the velocity of Janikowski’s boot, and it crossed much lower along the goalposts.
Good.
Even with Janikowski’s feat of strength, the miss turned out to be a 10-point swing. Elam’s accuracy on his two field goals was good for six points.
When the Broncos won the game, 13-3, simple math showed kicking was the difference.
“I’ve had some gorgeous kicks go wide left,” Elam said. “And I’ve had some ugly kicks go right down the middle. Thing is, they only give you points for the ones that go between the goalposts.”
Elam plays vital role
Elam might have had years when he’s kicked them farther. And it appears in each of his previous years he will have kicked them more often. But there’s never been a season in which Elam’s leg has been so important.
No other NFL team is as reliant on its kicker for points as the Broncos are on Elam. Entering Game 6 against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, Elam has 32 points. The rest of the Broncos have combined for 30. It took 14 seasons, but Elam has become the Broncos’ No. 1 offensive weapon.
“He’s the only guy on this team who even I can call an old guy,” said Rod Smith, the Broncos’ receiver who celebrated his 36th birthday in May, two months after Elam did. “This time of year, when the weather starts to change and your offense is not as dominant as you want, you’ve got have a guy like Jason who’s clutch. And he’s been money for me over the years. And as he’s getting older, he’s getting better.”
There was a time last season, after he missed what would have been a game-clinching, 49-yard field goal at the Meadowlands, when there were whispers age might have caught up to Elam.
As it turned out, he was going through two problems, neither connected to age, that since have been corrected. One was Elam’s health. He had a strained calf last year and again in training camp.
The other issue was his holders. Elam went through four in less than a season’s worth of games. He is healthy now, and has settled on quarterback Jake Plummer as his holder. The result: success on 9-of-10 field-goal attempts this season, including 4-for-4 from 43 to 51 yards.
“Jake has such quick hands,” Elam said. “He lets me have another 0.2 (seconds) of a look. The longer you can look at the ball, the better your chances are.”
Elam cool under fire
In past years, Elam often kicked to pile it on.
“When we were winning Super Bowls and John (Elway) was here and Shannon Sharpe and (Terrell Davis), we were beating people by 30 – who cared if I was 2-for-2?” Elam said.
This year, with the offense scoring only 12.4 points a game and the defense allowing a league-low 7.4 points, the Broncos already have played their share of field-goal games. That the Broncos are 4-1 speaks to the performance of their field-goal kicker.
“He’s got that coolness and calmness on game day to deliver and he’s been doing that since he’s been here,” Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said.
Truth is, Elam would prefer a return to those good old games of multiple extra-points/multiple short-field goals. He thinks they will, sometime this season.
“We have so much talent on offense we’re bound to have a breakout game,” Elam said. “But if not, we’re 4-1. We’re on a roll right now. We’ll take it. I’ll keep kicking field goals, the defense will keep playing and as long as we’re winning, who cares?”
Mike Klis can be reached at 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com.
