An hour after Sunday's game ended, Carolina Panthers kicker John Kasay remained baffled.
View full sizePhil Dawson had a sympathetic handshake for Carolina's John Kasay as the two kickers met at midfield after Kasay's 42-yard attempt at a game-winning field goal bounced off the left upright Sunday afternoon.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- An hour after Sunday's game ended with his errant field-goal attempt, Carolina Panthers kicker John Kasay remained baffled.
Kasay, one of the NFL's all-time best at his craft, could not believe his 42-yarder glanced off the left upright as time expired, thus failing to deliver a victory for his victory-starved team.
Kasay's misfire allowed the Browns to escape, 24-23, at Cleveland Browns Stadium. The Panthers sank to 1-10.
"I can see the ball leaving my foot," he said. "I got cut under, so I didn't see what happened, but I knew I hit the ball well. I hit it exactly how I wanted, exactly where I wanted. The snap was good, the hold was good. Everything felt good."
Yet it was no good. The left-footed Kasay was on the ground, peering through bodies, as the ball caromed left.
"When I heard the fans cheering, I was like, 'What happened?'" he said. "I haven't seen the replay, but I don't know what I would have done differently."
Kasay was asked whether he thought his being knocked down (by the Browns' Joe Haden) constituted a penalty.
"Oh, I don't know," he said. "My head is going up, and the next thing I know is, I'm looking down."
Kasay, 41, a 20-year pro, was bidding for his 14th game-winning field goal. It would have enabled the Panthers to prevail in a game where they trailed by 14 in the first half. Their final drive began at the Carolina 5 with 59 seconds left.
"That's what is so disappointing: These guys had earned the victory, and you want to do everything you can to make it happen," Kasay said. "Guys in this locker room played well enough to win, and I was the one who didn't get the job done for them."
Carolina coach John Fox and Kasay's teammates had his back.
"By no means am I ever going to blame a loss on John Kasay," Fox said.
"John's a great kicker," quarterback Jimmy Clausen said. "It shouldn't have come down to that one play."
Left tackle Jordan Gross said he would take Kasay "any day" to convert such a kick. "He's not a guy you can get frustrated with," Gross said.
Kasay appreciated the support -- but it was not necessarily going to ease the sting. "I'm the one who let those guys down," he said. "There's no other way to cut it."
The game might not have come down to that kick into the west end if Kasay had been accurate into the east end early in the third quarter. He hooked that attempt from 46 yards.
"I got around on the ball a little bit," he said, "and it had kind of a funny rotation to it. If you don't get good rotation on the ball, it's not going to hold."
Kasay finished 3-for-5 after entering 15-for-17.
"It's not very often he misses two field goals," Gross said. "It's not very often he misses any field goals."