Wide Left
| File:TCF Bank Stadium opener.jpg TCF Bank Stadium, the site of the game. | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 10, 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | TCF Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Seahawks by 6 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Walt Coleman | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 52,090 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth and Michele Tafoya | ||||||||||||||||||
Wide Left, a.k.a. Laces Out, was Blair Walsh's missed 27-yard field goal attempt for the Minnesota Vikings at the end of a wild card game between the Seattle Seahawks on January 10, 2016. The missed field goal resulted in the elimination of the Vikings from that year's playoffs. The phrase "wide left" has since become synonymous with the game itself.
The field goal attempt[edit]
With 26 seconds left in the game and Seattle leading by 1, the Vikings sent out their usually reliable kicker Blair Walsh to attempt a 27 yard field goal, which would normally be a gimme field goal for him. But with the temperature in Minneapolis ranging around −6 °F (−21 °C), the field goal would be harder to convert, but not by much.
After the snap came in from Kevin McDermott, the Vikings' long snapper, Minnesota holder Jeff Locke held the ball for Walsh in a way that could also could've attributed to the miss; he held the ball laces out, a way that has been known to give NFL kickers difficulty. When Blair Walsh came to kick the chip shot, the ball had the distance, but it went sailing wide to the lefthand goalpost.
Seattle then retained possesion of the ball with 22 seconds left and ran out the clock for a 10-9 victory, which sent them to Carolina and the Vikings out of the playoffs.
Aftermath[edit]
A week after the game, the Seahawks went to Carolina to face the Panthers, the number one seed in the NFC that year. They would end up losing to them 24-31. The Hawks would come back next year with a 10-5-1 record and an NFC West division title. They would, again, meet their fate in the Divisional round, losing to the Falcons en route to their 2nd Super Bowl appearance
Minnesota would regain momentum next season with Sam Bradford as their starting quarterback, coming out with a 5-0 record to start the season. However, Minnesota then lost 8 of their last 11, culminating in a Week 16 lost to Green Bay to eliminate them from the postseason.
Broadcast calls[edit]
TV[edit]
Michaels: 27 yard attempt. Jeff Locke is the holder. McDermott is the snapper. And the KICK IS NO GOOD! WOW. Go Figure. Oh baby. Yeah. It's time to pray to the heavens, Michael. You're right. No good. Not even close!
Collinsworth: Let's look at these laces one more time. Jeff Locke the holder. He's gonna try and put it down, and bingo. Looking right back at the kicker. And I'm telling you, psychologically speaking, sometimes that can get a kicker.
Radio[edit]
Raible: It's a 27-yard field goal attempt from the left hash mark, for Blair Walsh, to try to give the Vikings the lead. The snap. The kick is up
Moon: MISSED IT.
Raible: IT'S NO GOOD! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! IT'S NO GOOD! OH BABY! IT'S CHRISTMAS IN MINNESOTA! And the Seahawks have dodged a bullet! From 26 yards out, Mack Blair misses! Blair Walsh, I beg your pardon, misses the field goal attempt. And Seattle now, with 22 seconds left. And the Vikings have no timeouts left! One kneeldown, and the Seahawks move on to Carolina.
Allen: Blair Walsh has 5 game-winning field goals to his credit, including 2 this year. He walked-off a winner here against St. Louis and at Soldier Field. This will be a 27 yard try, for all intents and purposes, to knock Seattle out of the postseason. Kevin McDermott snaps. He's in his 1st year with the Minnesota Vikings. Jeff Locke holds. Blair Walsh from 27 yards left hash. Snap good, spot down, Walsh's kick is UP... and it is...NO GOOD! HE MISSED IT! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! THE SEASON CAN'T END LIKE THAT! He missed it left! And the Seattle Seahawks are off to Charlotte.
— Paul Allen from the Vikings Radio Network
References[edit]
This article "Wide Left" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Wide Left. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
