Kai Forbath honored by NFL after top performance in Vikings’ Week 7 win

The Minnesota Vikings’ kicker has been named the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week after hitting six field goals against the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday.

A few weeks ago, the job status of Kai Forbath as the kicker for the Minnesota Vikings seemed a bit uncertain. Despite his only misses coming on extra points during the Vikings’ first two games of the 2017 season, it still caused Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer to admit he was concerned with his kicker’s performance.

However, over the next four games, Forbath got himself back on the good side of his coach. The kicker converted on all nine of his extra point of his attempts and made all but one of his eight field goal attempts from Week 3 to Week 6.

Last Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, the Vikings’ offense was struggling to put points on the board and they turned to their kicker to bail them out not once, not twice, but six times. Forbath ended up hitting all six of his field goal attempts against the Ravens, including two kicks over 50 yards.

He did miss his only extra point attempt of the game, but the 18 points he scored for Minnesota makes that miss a little easier to forgive. His six field goals are the second-highest single-game total a Vikings kicker has ever finished with in the team’s history.

For his excellence last Sunday, the NFL announced on Wednesday that Forbath has been named the Week 7 NFC Special Teams Player of the Week. Along with quarterback Sam Bradford (in Week 1), the kicker is the second member of the Vikings’ roster to be named a Player of the Week this season.

Minnesota Vikings

Forbath is the first member of Minnesota’s special teams to earn the honor since 2015 when former Vikings kicker Blair Walsh was recognized for his efforts in Week 16 against the New York Giants. Oddly enough, Walsh made all of his field goal attempts and missed an extra point attempt in that game just like Forbath did against Baltimore.

Since joining Minnesota mid-year in 2016, Forbath has been pretty reliable when it comes to making field goals. In 14 games with the Vikings, the kicker has only missed one of his 33 field goal attempts.

However, kicking extra points has been a much different story. During his time with Minnesota, Forbath has missed six of his 28 extra point attempts. In his previous 51 games, the kicker had only missed a total of three extra points.

Next: NFC North Report - Week 7

While he seems to be more than reliable when it comes to kicking field goals, his missed extra points could become a significant problem if they continue to occur this season. But for now, Vikings fans should just let Forbath enjoy his Player of the Week honor and be thankful for his outstanding performance against the Ravens.