Icing kickers puts heat on coaches

• Some NFL kickers say being iced offers an advantage by giving them a practice kick
• The Dolphins lost a game in Week 3 after trying to ice Jets kicker Nick Folk
• The Eagles tried to ice Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes Sunday, and his second attempt fell just short

Four weeks into the regular season, could a failure and a near-failure make head coaches rethink the NFL tradition of icing the kicker?

The practice of calling a timeout — to play mind games with a kicker — moments before the ball is snapped on a game-deciding field goal backfired against the Miami Dolphins in Week 3 in the worst way: The Dolphins blocked New York Jets kicker Nick Folk's overtime attempt, but the play was nullified by a timeout. Folk nailed the next try for the win.

A week later, Philadelphia Eagles coach Andy Reid was kicking himself for calling a timeout just before New York Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes shanked a 54-yarder with 15 seconds remaining. Tynes missed the next one, too, but this time, it was right down the middle and 2 yards short.

Some kickers — past and present — say being iced offers an advantage by giving them a practice kick (and a mulligan), along with time to collect their thoughts. Sunday night, the Giants were scrambling to line up for the potential game-winner.

"I like it," Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Connor Barth told USA TODAY Sports. "I get out there and kind of see my spot and visualize the kick through the uprights. So, I think, honestly, icing a kicker sometimes is kind of better. I think it's better (for an opposing coach) to make a guy walk out there ands attempt it."

Former Buffalo Bills kicker Steve Christie agrees with Barth, who has made 25 field goals in a row.

"I actually liked it and expected it," Christie said. " I would use that to prepare and say, 'This is a 40-yarder, and I do it in practice every day.'"

The research is mixed. Some statistics show it works, to a small degree, while other research indicates it doesn't. And still other data say it might actually help the kicker, especially on longer field goal attempts.

"The guys on that level, you're not going to scare them," said Doug Blevins, a former NFL assistant coach.

Statistical support couldn't have rescued Reid from the sickening feeling of watching Tynes miss poorly on a kick that didn't count, then line up for the kick that would. "For about one minute, I wasn't a fan of myself," Reid said after a 19-17 victory.

Neither was his quarterback, Michael Vick. "I don't believe in icing the kicker," Vick said. "You let him kick it, and if it's in, it's in."

Contributing: Erik Brady