Minnesota Vikings: Tearful Blair Walsh takes blame for loss

Minnesota Vikings placekicker Blair Walsh took full responsibility for the team’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs.

The Minnesota Vikings were one 27 yard field goal away from taking the lead against the Seattle Seahawks. The Vikings, soundly in field goal range after running the ball three consecutive times, lined up for what many thought was a chip shot from the left hash mark of the field at TCF Bank Stadium.

When the kick missed to the left, social media erupted with anger and frustration. Fans were left stunned by the loss and the players on the field seemed to echo that emotion. Some classless fans took to social media to harass Vikings kicker Blair Walsh, making the loss even worse by showing a very ugly side to the fan base that should not exist.

It isn’t as if Walsh wouldn’t feel bad enough without the harassing messages. According to an article on the ESPN website, the kicker spent a large amount of the post-game time sitting at his locker with tears in his eyes and a feeling in his heart that he let his team down.

Here is a video of Blair Walsh after the game talking about the big miss from ESPN:

Although it wasn’t the most difficult kick, the Minnesota Vikings relied too much on the leg of Walsh. With the offense unable to score a single touchdown, every single point scored in the football game game from Blair Walsh. Despite that, the kicker took full responsibility for the loss.

"“I can tell you this: It’s my fault. I don’t care whether you give me a watermelon whole, I should be able to put that one through. Jeff did his job. [Longsnapper Kevin McDermott] did his job. I’m the only one who didn’t do his job. That’s on me.”"

Punter and holder Jeff Locke added to the pain, saying that the other two specialists involved in the kick, McDermott and himself, also felt as though they personally missed the field goal.

"“Kevin and I both feel like we missed the kick,” Locke said. “It’s all three of us. We’re a unit. It feels terrible.”"

Missing the field goal put to an end what was an amazing season for the Minnesota Vikings, which found them winning the NFC North for the first time since 2009 and playing their final season in their temporary home at TCF Bank Stadium. Next year, the Vikings will be back hungry with more to prove when they move into U.S. Bank Stadium knowing that they’re a good enough team to hang with the best the NFL has to offer.