A Vikings Curse Found a New Way to Haunt the Franchise
The Minnesota Vikings had a disastrous day against the Atlanta Falcons. J.J. McCarthy’s offense failed to find the endzone in a 22-6 loss. All six points were hand-delivered by second-year placekicker Will Reichard.
A Vikings Curse Found a New Way to Haunt the Franchise
However, the Falcons also struggled to find the end zone. The one time they did, the Vikings let them score to get the ball back (they might have scored anyway, as they looked pretty darn good that drive against an exhausted defense).
The following extra point was scored by kicker Parker Romo, who also drilled five field goals. Kickers are cursed in Minnesota; that’s nothing new, but a former employee scoring 16 points by himself? That might be a new one.
Mr. Romo stepped in for the injured Reichard last year when the rookie had to be placed on IR. The Vikings remembered Romo from the offseason. He had been hired before Reichard’s selection in April’s draft. Although he lost the competition, he earned the trust of the coaching staff, which ultimately led to a four-week try-out in the 2024 season.
Romo knocked down four field goals in his NFL debut, scoring the Vikings’ only points that day, earning him legend status in Minnesota but also a game ball from head coach Kevin O’Connell.
Romo also drilled a game-winner against the Chicago Bears. Through the four contests, the kicker hit 11 of his 12 field goal attempts and seven of eight extra points. His longest kick was a 55-yarder, which is quite impressive.
Vikings special teams coordinator Matt Daniels said about Romo at that time he was let go, “He maximized this opportunity, and surely enough, it is going to propel his career forward. I truly know that. The way this kicker thing is going this year, surely enough, if he’s not with us, he’s gonna be somewhere, for sure. Hopefully, he’s not playing against us.”
Folks who know about the kicking curse in the Twin Cities knew exactly that he would strike against the Vikings someday. Well, he did in his fifth NFL game. Romo had not kicked between his release and Sunday’s game.
After his cut, Romo signed with New England’s practice squad. He didn’t make their 53-man roster and was waiting for another opportunity. That came when Younghoe Koo continued to struggle in Atlanta, and Romo was the replacement. Of course, the Vikings couldn’t face the guy who hit only 73% of his field goals in 2024 and 2025. It had to be the ex-Viking, returning to the Twin Cities just a few days after signing with the organization.
Usually, only their own kickers haunt the Vikings. We don’t need to go into detail, but the fact that when “wide left” is mentioned in the State of 10,000 Lakes, everyone knows what it is referring to is alarming enough.
Now, one might be inclined to pivot towards thinking the Vikings made the wrong call when they picked Reichard over Romo. Reichard struggled last season following his injury, but he has been flawless this season, hitting four field goals and one extra point, including two kicks from over 50 and the second-longest one in franchise history, a 59-yarder.
The 2024 sixth-rounder is good, but unfortunately for the Vikings, Romo can kick, too. That saved Kevin O’Connell’s squad a couple of times last year, but came back to bite them on Sunday.
He’ll likely remain Atlanta’s kicker for another week, although it’s unclear how they handle the position, as Koo is still under contract while Romo is on the practice squad.
Editor’s Note: Information from PFF, Over The Cap, and Pro Football Reference helped with this article.