The most memorable missed field goals in NFL history

Missing a field goal is disappointing enough. But when the other team returns the miss for a touchdown (without the ball ever touching the ground), it seems even more humiliating. Like in 2005, when San Francisco’s Joe Nedney attempted a 52-yard field goal just before halftime at Soldier Field with his team ahead 3-0. Kicking into a stiff wind, Nedney hooked the ball into the waiting arms of Chicago’s Nathan Vasher, who caught it eight yards deep in the end zone. He then did a little zig-zagging before running down the east sideline for an improbable touchdown return. The Bears went on to win 17-9.

Missing a 48-yard field goal is nothing to be ashamed about. However, when advancement in the NFL playoffs is on the line, that’s another story. With six seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, and the Miami Dolphins trailing 22-21, Pete Stoyanovich needed to make good from that distance in this divisional-round thriller against the Chargers. However, the snap was high, which could have hindered Stoyanovich, who missed right, thus sealing the deal for San Diego, which went on to reach the franchise’s first Super Bowl.

As we know, the words “wide right” are taboo in Buffalo. However, they seem to keep haunting and taunting the Bills and their devoted fan base for more than 30 years. Like during the 2023 season and the AFC Divisional Round playoffs against rival Kansas City. With the Chiefs ahead 27-24, the Bills’ Tyler Bass lined up for a 44-yard FG attempt on his home field with 1:47 remaining in regulation. And, of course, Bass sliced it “wide right” as the Chiefs held on for the three-point victory en route to their Super Bowl repeat.

When it comes to combined offensive futility in an NFL game, look no further than this 2016 contest between NFC West foes that ended in a 6-6 overtime tie. Arizona’s Chandler Catanzaro and Steven Hauschka of Seattle combined to make two field goals apiece, and each delivered a memorably embarrassing miss in the extra session. After each connected in overtime, and with 3:19 remaining, Catanzaro hit the upright from 24 yards out to keep the game tied…

… Then it was Steven Hauschka’s turn. After Chandler Catanzaro’s aforementioned miss from 24 yards, Hauschka’s 28-yard field goal attempt would have won the game for the visiting Seahawks with just 7 seconds remaining. However, he completely hooked the kick — not even coming close — much to the delight of Cardinals’ fans, who thought their team was headed to a massively disappointing loss. Instead, this went down as the game nobody wanted to win.

Just past one year to the day Nathan Vasher returned a missed 49ers field goal for a touchdown, his Hall of Fame teammate Devin Hester did the same thing from the same distance, but on a much bigger stage — Sunday Night Football — and across the river from New York City. The Giants trailed just 24-20 when Feely’s miss from 52 yards early in the fourth quarter, and Hester, after hesitating on the catch, rather easily sprinted down the sideline untouched for another memorable return that essentially iced the win for Chicago.

Sometimes a moment of collective futility is memorable for all the wrong reasons. During the divisional playoff game between Indianapolis and Kansas City, the Chiefs’ Lin Elliott missed field-goals attempts of 35, 39 and 42 yards. Of course, they all came back to bite the Chiefs, who lost 10-7. Even with Kansas City’s football success in recent years, the agony of Elliott’s performance is still palpable. 

Less than a week after the passing of Bears legend Walter Payton, and one day removed from his public memorial service at Soldier Field (which the ’99 team attended), Chicago held a 14-13 lead at Lambeau Field in the final seconds. However, Green Bay’s Ryan Longwell was set up for an essential chip shot, 28-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining. Call it fitting, or maybe some divine intervention from “Sweetness” above, but the Bears’ Bryan Robinson got a hand on the ball, blocking the kick and sending his middling squad to an improbable win.

On his home field with 21 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of this AFC divisional contest against the Steelers, the Colts’ Mike Vanderjagt had a chance to tie the game at 21-21 with a 46-yard field goal try, and likely head to overtime. However, the usually dependable Vanderjagt missed badly to the right, stunning the crowd and prompting legendary announcer Dıck Enberg to describe the result as “not even close.”

In 2004, the San Diego Chargers delivered a 12-4 regular season and felt good entering the playoffs. However, a 10-6 Jets squad gave them all they could handle, and the Chargers needed to rally from 10 points down to force overtime at home in this wild-card round matchup. After each team was forced to punt in their first possessions of the extra session, San Diego found itself in position to win, but rookie Nate Kaeding missed wide right from 40 yards out. On the next drive, the Jets’ Doug Brien connected from 28 yards to give New York a 20-17 upset victory.

Speaking of Doug Brien. One week after being the hero against the Chargers, Jets fans had a different opinion after Brien missed fourth-quarter field goal attempts of 47 and 43 yards during the 20-17 loss at Pittsburgh in the AFC Divisional Round. The second miss was particularly notable as it came at the end of regulation, and obviously, would have given New York the victory.

Sometimes a missed field goal can actually benefit the kicker and his team. That was certainly the case during the 1980 season opener between these storied rivals. Bespectacled everyman Packers kicker Chester Marcol had his 25-yard field goal, in overtime, blocked by the helmet of Chicago’s Alan Page. However, the ball fell into the hands of Marcol, who rambled around the left end for a 25-yard touchdown and sealed the 12-6 Green Bay victory. Marcol later admitted he was high on cocaine during the second half of the game.

Jan Stenerud is a Hall of Famer, one of the greatest kickers in NFL history. However, on Christmas Day 1971, his ineffective foot was one reason the Chiefs were eliminated from the playoffs via a 27-24 double-overtime loss to the Dolphins in the AFC Divisional Round. He missed three field goals during the contest, most notably wide from 31 yards out with 35 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of a 24-24 game.

There are field goal misses that are brutal. Then there are those that feel like a punch to the gut. Cundiff’s shank of a 32-yard attempt with 15 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship Game at New England to conclude the 2011 season was certainly the latter. The seemingly easy kick would have tied the contest at 23-23 and likely forced overtime. Instead, it was a painful end to 12-4 season for the Ravens.

Actually, Martin Gramatica had nothing to do with this gaffe, which was technically never even a field goal attempt, but since the Cowboys were lined up for one in this NFC wild-card contest, it’s worthy of inclusion on our list. Dallas trailed the Seahawks 21-20 with 1:19 remaining in the fourth quarter, but Gramatica was staring down a 19-yard field goal attempt — a chip shot in every sense. However, Cowboys quarterback/holder Tony Romo bobbled the snap, couldn’t get the ball placed, and then tried to run for the touchdown. Which he failed to do, thus leading to a heartbreaking Dallas defeat.

In what’s known as the “double-doink,” with the Bears trailing 16-15, Cody Parkey was staring down a 43-yard-field goal with 10 seconds remaining in regulation to give his team the lead and likely an NFC wild-card game win. Instead, Parkey hit the left upright, then watched as the ball bounced off the crossbar and back into the field of play. The Eagles were credited with a block on the play, but, regardless, Chicago’s season ended and Parkey never kicked for the team again.

The 1972 Miami Dolphins didn’t make many blunders en route to what’s still the only undefeated season in NFL history. However, during their 14-7 win over Washington in Super Bowl VII, kicker Garo Yepremian committed one of the NFL’s most memorable gaffes late in the contest. Looking to give Miami a 17-0 lead with a little more than 2 minutes remaining in the game, Yepremian’s 42-yard field goal attempt was blocked, but he managed to pick up the ball. That’s when the fun began, as Yepremian flubbed a pass attempt and the ball landed in the hands of Washington’s Mike Bass, who returned it 49 yards for a touchdown. In the end, the play cost Miami nothing, but remains Yepremian’s defining career moment. 

During the Vikings’ remarkable 15-1 1998 regular season, veteran Gary Anderson connected on all 35 field-goal attempts. He then made his first four such tries during the postseason. But when he had the chance to put the Vikings up 10 points late in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship Game against the Falcons, Anderson stunningly missed just wide left on a 38-yard field goal try. Atlanta then marched down the field for a tying touchdown pass with 49 seconds left in regulation and then pulled off the 30-27 upset via Morten Andersen’s 38-yard field goal (How fitting is that?) in overtime.

We talked about “wide right” and the Buffalo Bills. The term was coined at the end of Super Bowl XXV. It’s the most memorable field goal attempt — and miss — in the history of the NFL. The Giants led 20-19 over the Bills in the final seconds of the fourth quarter. Norwood, though, had the chance to be a hero and give Buffalo its first Super Bowl title. But, as any true NFL fan knows, Norwood missed his 47-yard attempt to the right — wide right. Four seconds remained for the Giants to run out the clock, but misery for Bills fans still lingers.