Kicker keeps an even keel
QUIETLY, Chandler Catanzaro had been waiting for his first moment.
Sure, he beat out Ross Martin in a tight training camp competition to win the Jets kicking job after he had been released by the Cardinals following three productive years. But when you’re a newcomer to a team, you crave that first moment that allows you to truly feel like you belong.
Catanzaro got that moment Sunday at MetLife Stadium in the form of the 41-yard field goal with 28 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Jets a 23-20 win over the Jaguars.
When, entering what’s looming as a close game against the 0-4 Browns on Sunday in Cleveland, it was suggested to Catanzaro by The Post on Friday that he was now a made man on the team after making that game-winner, he winced.
“No,’’ he said, wanting no part of any bravado. “As a kicker you’re only as good as your last kick. This is my fourth year doing this and kicking can be a very humbling job. I had my moment on Sunday. Then I woke up Monday morning to come back to work. You can’t get too high or too low in this business — especially with my job.’’
The 26-year-old Catanzaro described his game-winning kick as “a period at the end of a sentence.’’
“The game was a long sentence, and it all came down to that moment at the end,’’ he said. “I’m just glad I came through for those guys. It was a cool moment. Kicking wasn’t very fun for me for a little bit.’’
The Jets took a calculated risk not re-signing incumbent Nick Folk for an eighth year with the team. In his seven seasons, Folk was nothing if not dependable, making 175 of 213 field goals and 204 of 206 extra points.
Catanzaro came with a less expensive price tag and the Jets were in full rebuilding mode, so Folk signed as a free agent with the Buccaneers.
It surely was not lost on the Jets or Catanzaro that Folk missed three field goals Thursday night in Tampa Bay’s 19-14 loss to the Patriots. His third miss was a 31-yarder with 5:39 remaining in the game with the Bucs trailing 16-7.
“Nick is that same kicker that drained all those clutch kicks here for many years,’’ Catanzaro said. “I know he’ll bounce back.’’
Catanzaro, who thought he would end his career with Arizona, knows a thing or two about bouncing back. After being as dependable for the Cardinals as Folk had been for the Jets, Catanzaro struggled at times in 2016 and was released.
He won two games for the Cardinals last season, kicking last-second field goals to beat the 49ers and Seahawks, but his fieldgoal percentage dipped to 75 percent, and that’s not good enough in today’s NFL. Kicking is the loneliest job in the sport. Was Catanzaro’s confidence shaken by his release from Arizona?
“You can’t let it affect you,’’ he said. “You’ve got to always believe in your talent or else nobody else will. But it was tough. I’m not going to lie. I didn’t have my best year by any means, but I didn’t take if personally. My mentality is a next-kick mentality.’’
That mentality paid off Sunday against the Jaguars after he had missed a 45-yarder earlier in the game before kicking the game winner.
Catanzaro has made 9-of-11 field goal attempts for the Jets and all six extra points.
“For him to rebound and to have the kind of year that he’s having ... he’s having a pretty damn good year,’’ Jets special teams coach Brant Boyer said.
The Jets, whose offense never will be confused with the “Greatest Show on Turf,’’ figure to be in a lot of close games this season. It would be a surprise if Sunday’s game isn’t decided late. So Catanzaro figures to have a say in quite a few games this season — just as he did against the Jags. Alone in his hotel room the night before games, Catanzaro visualizes what he thinks — hopes — will happen in the game. It’s an exercise he learned from Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen, who has mentored him since Catanzaro was in college at Clemson and sought help in the form of a private clinic.
“Every Saturday night I visualize kicks splitting the uprights,’’ he said.
Like that 41-yard game-winner he nailed Sunday to put the period at the end of the sentence at MetLife.
“It was a big moment for me, a big kick for sure, and gives me some confidence going forward,’’ Catanzaro said. “I’ve been in these moments before, and both succeeded and failed. But it always feels good to come through in that moment. I’m thankful that it went through — especially for these guys on the team that worked their tails off the whole game.
“It was a team victory, it wasn’t one man’s victory.’’