Washington Redskins kicker Kai Forbath has earned plenty of praise, and justifiably so, for going 14-for-14 on field goal attempts since the Redskins signed him in October. But on Sunday after Forbath’s 34-yard game-winner, special teams captain Lorenzo Alexander brought attention to eight other guys on the field.
“The biggest thing this year though is protection is so much better,” Alexander said. “Guys in that front are giving great pad level and giving him a chance to get the ball up and get it through.”
Graham Gano had five attempts blocked last season; the only block this year was on an extra point that Forbath clearly kicked too low.
Special teams coordinator Danny Smith made it an offseason focus and kept up the pressure on the field goal protection unit, Alexander said, which has made the difference.
But that could change at any moment.
“When one guy messes up, as we proved last year, obviously, good things don’t happen,” Shanahan said. “So we’ve worked on it, our guys are pretty solid, but it only takes one guy to mess up and all of a sudden you’re back to the drawing board, so hopefully we can keep it up.”
