Bengals' Nugent on missed field goal: 'It was pathetic'

Cincinnati Bengals kicker Mike Nugent was blunt when describing his tie-sealing missed field goal on Sunday afternoon.

“That was pathetic,” Nugent told Todd Jones of The Columbus Dispatch. “I don’t know how long the field-goal (attempt) was, but whether it’s a 20-yarder or a 40- or 50-yarder, you got to hit it straight. It was the only bad ball I hit all day. It was just pathetic.” 

Nugent pushed a 36-yard field goal wide right as time expired to ensure a 37-37 tie with the Carolina Panthers.

While some teammates, like Adam Jones, were critical of Nugent's miss, others were sensitive to their kicker's failure.

“So many different things happened,” quarterback Andy Dalton said. “You can look at the last field-goal (attempt) that didn’t work out for us, but so many different opportunities didn’t work out.” 

Nugent, however, wasn't about to let himself off the hook that easily.

“I never get worried about confidence,” Nugent said. “I don’t think I’d be playing for 10 years if I had an issue with confidence. It’s just at the moment right now, I have a lot of disappointment. It’s just really tough to see my coaches and see my teammates after a game like that, just knowing you didn’t finish for them.”