New Orleans Saints kicker Wil Lutz admitted he was "in shock" after the dramatic conclusion to the first NFL International Series game of 2022 in London.
Lutz drilled a 60-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter to bring the Saints level before Minnesota Vikings counterpart Greg Joseph put his side 28-25 ahead with less than a minute remaining. But the Saints got back into field goal range and gave Lutz a 61-yard attempt to force overtime at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
His kick again had plenty of distance but hit the left post before dropping down onto the crossbar and bouncing out of the posts leaving the Vikings to celebrate victory. And Lutz admitted he thought his second attempt was on course to split the uprights and give them a chance of returning to New Orleans with a victory.
"Honestly they were the same two kicks," Lutz said. "Unfortunately second one had one more yard to move than the first one. So there's no silver lining to losing or missing.
"I thought they were both in. I hit them both on the screws. I played them right there. The ball is going to move a little left. And the second one just moved a little more left. So kind of shocked it didn't bounce in. But it's frustrating.
"I mean, it all happened so quick. I heard the first doink, saw the second one, and then I saw them celebrate, so figured it didn't go in."
Asked how often he practice kicks from that distance, Lutz said: "Twice a week. We hit kicks from every spot that we think is reasonable to happen in the game. So we've hit that kick plenty of times. I hit that kick in warm up both ways.
"So yeah, I mean, like I said, I hit them both as flush as I could. Just honestly kind of still in shock second one didn't go in.
"To be honest in that situation, there is no range. It's we've got to kick it; there's no option. And when my number is called, I've got to give it a chance. Obviously I gave it a chance but I didn't get the right bounce, so it's frustrating."
On the opposite sideline, Lutz's agonising miss sparked celebrations for the Vikings as they moved to 3-1 on the season. Wide receiver Adam Thielen said: "So hard from our angle [to see] if it's going wide right or wide left, but knew it had the distance. You're just hoping it doesn't go in.
"It's a long game already, but to go to overtime after a hard-fought battle would have been tough. You're kind of just preparing to go to overtime. You're hoping it misses. When it hit the post, I thought it was still going in. Then hit it again, came short. So that was pretty cool."
