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The Detroit Lions have enjoyed a solid rebound season from plenty of players, but quite possibly the best has quietly come from kicker Michael Badgley.
After the Lions had kicking problems which were looking destined to doom them midseason, all Badgley did was come into the fray and stabilize things from the moment he hit the team. Outside of one rare miss on Thanksgiving Day, Badgley has been fantastic.
During the game in Week 13, Badgley had arguably his best game as a member of the Lions if not his best in the NFL the last handful of seasons. The kicker was 4-4 in the game, and also a perfect 4-4 on extra points. He collected 16 total points on the day.
Michael Badgley was straight 💰 yesterday
With this in mind, Badgley did outscore the Jacksonville Jaguars, who only put up 14 points. It’s no small feat for a kicker to outscore any NFL team, so for him to pull this off was about as rare as the Lions not punting in the game.
Kicking has quietly been a huge problem in Detroit since the team let Matt Prater go a few years back, but Badgley has put all of that behind the team since he has joined. Ever since signing with Detroit, Badgley has gone 11-12 with a long kick of 53 yards. He has also been perfect on extra points.
Going back to the days of Eddie Murray and Jason Hanson up to Prater, kickers have always held a special place in Detroit’s heart. It’s more than possible that Badgley has become the newest member of that club by being very good very quickly.
On a team that is rolling, it would be easy to lose sight of how good Badgley has been, but it’s important to give the kicker credit for his role in the team’s resurgence. No longer has kicking been the problem it was when Detroit was losing.
Dan Campbell Has Faith in Badgley
It’s clear that Badgley has been doing a great job for the Lions, and as a result, he has earned the faith of his head coach.
After Detroit’s big win on Sunday, December 4, Dan Campbell had a lot to say about all members of the team who excelled. When he was asked about the kicking game, Campbell was very open in his praise of Badgley, whom he says has earned the faith of the team with some good work thus far.
“I’ve got a lot of faith in him.”
-Dan Campbell on Michael Badgley
“He’s kicking it well. Once again came through big for us. I do, I got a lot of faith in him. He’s earned that,” Campbell told the media after the win.
A coaching staff needs to have faith in their kicker in order for that player to have success, and Badgley has the full confidence of everyone in the locker room. Don’t be surprised if he continues to get it done for the team as a result of this.
Hanson: Badgley ‘Really Good Kicker’ for Lions
In terms of Hanson, being a former kicker allows him to have a good opinion of what’s going on with the team at the position. As he explained, what he sees in Badgley is a really good player at his former spot on the field.
Speaking to DetroitLions.com reporter Dannie Rogers and analyst Lomas Brown on the postgame show, Hanson explained what he watched when he was at the game against Jacksonville. He said he saw a player that was the quiet MVP of the day given the timelines of Badgley’s boots.
“It was huge, right? Every field goal that he made kept momentum. It didn’t switch. It didn’t give them (the) opportunity. I mean with the score line being what it was, it may seem like it wasn’t important, but it was huge what he did. He made everything, so the Lions have a really good kicker,” Hanson said.
As he said, it was also impressive to see Badgley respond well after the short miss both this week and last week. That points to a player in a good frame of mind.
“He’s really good. He’s been money. Last week he missed the short one, but then bombed the 51. That really says something. Then to do what he did (Sunday), yeah. It’s key to them (and) their success,” Hanson explained.
No matter whether it’s Campbell, Hanson or simply those on the outside, it’s becoming clear the Lions may have found a keeper in the man dubbed Money Badger.
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