I don't think I've ever been this confused by a kicker.
Ryan Fitzgerald hasn't missed a field goal all season. He can line up from 53 yards, and honestly, I feel pretty good about it. Then Carolina scores a touchdown, Fitzgerald comes out for the extra point and I'm sitting there wondering what's about to happen.
I don't understand it.
Through four games, Fitzgerald is 9-for-9 on field goals . He's 3-for-3 from 40 to 49 yards, made his only attempt from 50-plus and has a long of 53. If I stopped right there, we'd be talking about how reliable Carolina's kicker has been.
But I can't stop there because he's 10-for-13 on extra points. Fitzgerald missed one against Chicago and then missed two against Detroit. Somehow, the kick that's supposed to be easier has been the one making me nervous.
Sep 13, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers kicker Ryan Fitzgerald (10) kicks a field goal in the second quarter against the Chicago Bears at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Cleveland game is where this really started standing out to me. Carolina couldn't get into the end zone for most of the afternoon, so Fitzgerald basically became the offense. He went 4-for-4 on field goals , including a 53-yarder, and scored Carolina's first 12 points.
And here's the weird part: I wasn't really worried when he came out there to kick them. Even when Fitzgerald lined up from 53, I felt pretty good about his chances. That's probably not how I'm supposed to feel about a 53-yard field goal, but he's given me a reason to trust him.
Then we get to Detroit. Fitzgerald made both of his field-goal attempts but missed two extra points. Carolina still won 32-26, so those points didn't end up deciding the game, but I definitely don't want to keep finding out how many missed extra points the Panthers can get away with.
I'm not saying Carolina has a kicker problem, either. How can I say that when the guy hasn't missed a field goal? Fitzgerald also showed as a rookie that pressure doesn't seem to bother him much, going 4-for-4 on game-winning field-goal attempts last season.
That's why I'm having such a hard time figuring this out. If Fitzgerald were missing everything, this would be an easy conversation. He's not. He's perfect on the kicks that are supposed to make me nervous and 10-for-13 on the ones I barely used to think about.
Maybe the extra points get cleaned up after the bye, and we never talk about this again. I hope that's what happens because Fitzgerald has been too good on field goals for three missed extra points to become the story of his season. But Carolina is going to play close games, and eventually one point could be the difference.
For now, I guess this is where I'm at with Fitzgerald.
Fifty-three yards? I'm good.
Extra point? I'm watching.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/panthers/onsi as Panthers K Ryan Fitzgerald Hasn't Missed a Field Goal - So Explain This .
