It's No Wonderful Life For Dan Bailey or the Minnesota Vikings

Dan Bailey had another terrible, no good, very bad day. Bailey missed kicks from 36, 54 and 45 yards, finishing 0-for-3 on field goal attempts. He also missed his one extra point attempt as his Minnesota Vikings lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-14. If that sounds bad, it is. It's the first time in more than half a century anyone did that in the NFL.

That followed a week where Bailey missed one field goal attempt and two extra points, but made the game-winning field goal in overtime to help beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-24. Bailey had been solid coming into December, having missed just one extra point and two field goals during the first three months of the season. There is no wonderful life this holiday season for this Bailey. That's right, I went there.

So will the Vikings cut Bailey now? He didn't single-footedly lose the game on Sunday, but he certainly didn't do anything to help them win. With the loss the Minnesota dropped to 6-7 and is now on the outside looking in at the playoff picture. Will bringing in a currently unemployed kicker be the difference? Or should the Vikings just let Bailey continue to Vinatieri himself as he Vinatieri's them?

It probably doesn't matter. Not just in a "football is unimportant" way, but because the Vikings are unlikely to make the playoffs no matter what they do. Bailey is only 32 and did make a Pro Bowl so he'll probably be brought in for workouts every time another kicker sees his fortunes turn to dust like his did in Minnesota this month. Everyone deserves a second chance.