Vikings Coach Peels Back Curtain on Recent On-Field Foible

Not too often, folks, has Will Reichard missed in 2026. The third-year kicker had a long attempt blocked against the Colts, but that got explained away due to trying to lower the trajectory to complete the 59-yard 3-point attempt.

What of the miss in Week 8 in Motown?

Vikings coach Matt Daniels has been doing terrific work as the special teams coordinator. Oftentimes, he’s the best of the bunch in front of the Minnesota media, commonly packaging some sophisticated football insight into charming, easy-to-digest answers. He swerved into what went wrong in that Week 8 Reichard miss when talking to reporters a couple of days ago.

Vikings Coach Matt Daniels Explains FG Miss

Losing a divisional game is always tough. Part of what makes it extra tough for the Vikings is that the score was just 19-15. So, not drilling that field goal wasn’t helpful in the close road game.

Coach Daniels took ownership for the miss, accepting responsibility: “It was a rushed process.” He went on: “[Will Reichard] quite frankly wasn’t prepared and ready to actually kick the football.” Other parts of the problem were that the placement got shuffled from the 38 to the 39, the holder didn’t perfectly catch the ball, and other small factors. Tally ’em all up and Mr. Reichard missed.

Matt Daniels publicly stepped into the line of fire, accepting responsibility for the foible: “At the end of the day, that falls on me.”

Last year, Will Reichard got honored with a first-team All Pro nod. His 2025 was elite. The sophomore 33/35 on field goals and 31/31 on extra points. Crunch the numbers and that’s a sizzling 94.3% on field goals and a pristine 100% on extra points.

Not too shabby, eh?

Fast forward into 2026 and things were looking up.

Reichard has yet again been having an elite season. His extra points have been flawless, going 10/10 in what has become an automatic part of the operation. In his field goals, Reichard is now sitting at 18/20. That works out to a 90% conversion rate. That’s still strong but not quite as exemplary as last year (at least not so far).

What needs to be remembered in the conversation surrounding Reichard’s kicking is that the Vikings lean on him to make difficult field goals; it’s not as if he’s missing the kicks from 27 yards away. Already, he has 8 attempts from 50+. His pair of misses come from that range, with one being a block.

Next up for Will Reichard and the Vikings is a Monday Night Football game against the Buffalo Bills. In all likelihood, anything less than Minnesota’s best effort won’t be good enough to get the job done. Reichard, Matt Daniels, and the special teams will therefore have to set off some fireworks.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. and both teams enter the game with a 6-1 record.

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Senior Editor for Vikings Territory & PurplePTSD . Twitter & Bluesky: @VikingsGazette. Email: k.joudry[at]vikingsterritory[dot]com. Canadian. Jude 1:24-25.