Vikings fans understand what Seattle Seahawks fans are feeling, even if their sympathy level may be somewhere below zero.
Blair Walsh missed three field goals in the first half of Seattle's 17-14 loss to Washington on Sunday. They all came in the first half, when the Seahawks opened the scoring with a safety but trailed 7-2 at halftime.
Let's go back for a minute to one of the reasons Walsh is in Seattle right now: The final seconds of the 2015 NFC Wild Card game.
Combined with his struggles last season -- four missed field goals and four missed extra points -- Walsh was released by the Vikings after 10 games and signed with Seattle during the offseason. Before the loss to Washington, Walsh had made 12 of 13 field goals and all but one of 18 extra-point kicks.
Now, back to Sunday afternoon.
The worst thing, Walsh said afterward, was that he missed all three kicks the same way. He told the Tacoma News Tribune: That is a tough thing. You identify [the miss] in between kicks and try and correct it, and it does not get corrected. For me, it is just I have to know when they are traveling to the left like that, in that type of weather situation, to compensate for it — and angle it ... down the middle."
The News Tribune story also noted this nugget: "While his teammates were in the locker room at halftime, Walsh came out to get extra work in on field goals — all while a pig race was happening right in front of him."
Walsh didn't get a chance for redemption in the second half. When Seattle scored to pull within 10-8, coach Pete Carroll went for a two-point conversion to try tying the score. When a late touchdown gave the Seahawks a 14-10 lead, they again went for two in an attempt to build a one-touchdown [minus the extra point] margin.
Walsh said he understood the decision.
And Vikings fans certainly understand the frustration.
You can read more about Walsh's latest rough afternoon here and here.