Plenty of blame to go around as Bucs lose 19-9 to Texans Roy Cummings, The Tampa Tribune, published 28 September 2015 Rookie kicker Kyle Brindza sat staring at his locker late Sunday afternoon, sweat dripping down the back he kept perpetually turned toward his teammates. It’s no wonder he couldn’t face them. This one was on him. Not on him alone, of course. A penalty-prone defense that didn’t stop the run well enough and a receiving corps that let a half-dozen potentially game-changing passes slip through its hands played roles, too. But in the end, even Brindza had to concede no one played a bigger role than he did in the 19-9 loss to the Texans at NRG Stadium in missing three field goals and an extra point. “It’s devastating,’’ Brindza said quietly. “I let my team down. As a kicker, you can’t afford to have any flaws in your game, and I had a couple in mine today. And it hurt us. It hurt our team.’’ The primary flaw, Brindza said, was a failure to properly carry his leg through his kicks. The result was missed field goals from 41, 33 and 57 yards and an extra-point attempt that clanged off the right goal post. Add it all up and Brindza left 10 points, the margin of defeat, on the field. Days like that can cost a kicker his job. But as Brindza stood at his locker, buttoning up the purple checked shirt that quickly soaked up the sweat off his back, he didn’t seem too concerned about that. It turns out, he didn’t need to be. The Bucs traded Tim Wright, a third-year tight end with 11 touchdown catches, to the Lions for Brindza late in the preseason, and they’re not ready to let him go just yet. “Kyle’s our kicker,’’ Lovie Smith stated emphatically shortly after the Bucs fell to 1-2 on the season. “We’re not going to indict a player based on one bad game.’’ Brindza’s is a heart-warming story. Born with a right club foot — his kicking foot — he overcame several surgeries as a child to play sports and kick at Notre Dame. But accuracy was an issue in college. At Notre Dame, he made just 57 of 81 field-goal tries (70.3 percent), including 14 of 24 as a senior. Something, however, convinced the Bucs those problems were behind him. With last year’s kicker, Patrick Murray, on injured reserve with a knee sprain, they have little choice but to hope they still are. “We signed him based on what he did elsewhere,’’ Smith said. “He, like a lot of us, had an off day. It happens. He’ll come back next week. And let’s not forget that he got us off to a good start.’’ It was a near-historic start, with Brindza hitting a career-best 58-yard field goal that was the second-longest in Bucs history — 4 yards shy of Matt Bryant’s 62-yard kick in 2006 — and fourth-longest by a rookie since 1970. That cut an early Texans lead to 7-3, but Brindza’s troubles soon began. After going 4-for-4 on extra points through the first two games, Brindza bounced his only PAT try in this game off the right goal post, leaving Tampa Bay with a 9-7 lead late in the first half. That established a pattern he never broke. “I just didn’t finish my kicks,’’ he said. “I wasn’t following through all the way. It’s tough, but you just have to push through it. It’s one of the toughest jobs in the business, mentally.’’ Perhaps most costly was the miss from 33 yards — a distance from which NFL kickers rarely miss — that could have given the Bucs a 12-10 lead in the fourth quarter. Houston responded by driving 77 yards in five plays for a touchdown and 16-9 lead with 9:14 left. Brindza’s teammates, however, remained supportive. Jameis Winston was the first to approach Brindza after his late miss from 57 yards, greeting him as he came off the field. “I told him he’s the second-best kicker I know,’’ said Winston, who played at Florida State with kicker Roberto Aguayo, the 2013 Groza Award winner as the top college kicker. “Roberto Aguayo is my favorite. But (Brindza) is so good. And to have all that pressure on him in a game. All we have to do is put the ball in the end zone. And hey, I missed a couple of throws today. I miss throws every day. This guy, every time he gets up there he has only a small opportunity.’’ Brindza, however, is now 5-for-9 on field goals this season. Entering the Sunday night game, only Washington’s Kai Forbath had a lower field-goal percentage than the 56-percent mark Brindza has through three games. Plenty of other players made mistakes Sunday. The defense allowed 186 yards rushing to a Texans team missing several offensive linemen and star running back Arian Foster. The offense failed to establish the run and converted only one of 12 third-down plays. Winston completed only 47 percent of his passes (17 of 36). Evans caught only seven of the 17 balls thrown his way. Josh Martin failed to recover a fumble deep in Houston territory, trying instead to pick up the ball and run with it. But the missed kicks made the difference. “Yeah, their field goal kicker kind of helpd us out a little bit,’’ Texans defensive end J.J. Watt said. “I appreciate it.’’