The unenviable life of the NFL field goal kicker:

Before the kick, according to Football Outsiders, the best Web site for football statistics, Vanderjagt made 12 of the 15 kicks that either tied or won a game in its last minute (or in overtime) - a success rate well above the N.F.L. average. Afterward, he is 12 for 16. And he doesn’t merely miss; he misses so badly that it is easy to assume total psychological collapse. “It wasn’t a Scott Norwood deal where you wondered if he might make it,” a member of the Colts' staff tells me. “You knew it was wrong.” Of course it was wrong. This is what kickers do to define themselves: choke under pressure.