Reason for Vikings’ kicking struggles possibly revealed

On Friday, Minnesota Vikings special teams coach Mike Priefer mentioned that this is basically the first season punter Matt Wile has ever been a holder.

Would it really be a normal season for the Minnesota Vikings if the team got through a whole year without any kicking problems? Probably not.

So here we are in the middle of the 2018 season and the Vikings’ kicking game is struggling yet again. Minnesota has had two kickers this year, Daniel Carlson and Dan Bailey, and they have combined to miss a total of 10 field goal and extra point attempts.

The Vikings have missed out on a total of 28 points this season thanks to their kickers not converting their tries.

So what is the reasoning for Minnesota’s kicking struggles this time? Vikings special teams coach Mike Priefer might have provided an answer to this question during his presser with the local media on Friday.

Minnesota punter Matt Wile has been handing the duties as the holder on field goal and extra point attempts this year and Priefer mentioned that this is really Wile’s first season with these responsibilities.

"“I don’t know if he’s ever really been taught how to hold. He has, at times, struggled with it. But he is really starting to come along and Dan (Bailey) is starting to trust him a lot more.”"

Oh wonderful. So the franchise that has an infamous history with kickers struggling decided it would be a great idea to have a guy with minimal holding experience be the team’s holder on field goal and extra point attempts this season?

Do the Vikings just enjoy having their hearts ripped out by their kicking game each and every year? Because how else would one explain the constant head-scratching decisions Minnesota makes when it comes to trying to fix their kicking problems?

The Vikings already have a bunch of decisions to make during the 2019 offseason, but taking a very serious and hard look at exactly why the team continues to struggle at making kicks is something that is absolutely necessary. Or else this is a problem that will never go away.

But actually, maybe this is just another version of the unavoidable kicking curse that seems to strike this franchise more often than not. So whatever Minnesota decides to do during the upcoming offseason might not make a difference at all.