Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Matt Gay didn't have the greatest of days Sunday. The Buccaneers rookie kicker missed three kicks (including two extra points) and a 34-yarder with no time left on the clock which would have been the game-winner in a 32-31 loss to the New York Giants. A forgetful day for Gay could have been avoided if head coach Bruce Arians would have allowed him to kick from a shorter distance. Arians decided to give Gay a better opportunity to kick farther back by purposefully taking a delay of game penalty as the Buccaneers faced a second-and-goal at the Giants' nine-yard line. 

Instead of a 27-yard kick to win the game, Arians took a delay of game to place the Buccaneers at the Giants 14-yard line to have Gay kick from 32 yards. Arians then took a kneel down to center the ball for Gay, giving him an opportunity right down the middle for the winner. It was an odd sequence of events.

Arians moved the ball back seven yards for a miss anyway, an explanation that left many scratching their heads. 

"I just took it on purpose. He's better back there. That field goal is easier back five yards," Arians said, via Greg Auman of The Athletic. "We wanted to move the ball, put it in the middle and make it easier."

Taking the kneel down and centering the ball makes sense, but the numbers don't add up why the delay of game penalty was taken. Extra points are 33-yard attempts, which Gay missed one earlier in the game and having another blocked. Gay was 4-of-5 on field goals in the game, making ones from 47, 27, 52, and 23 yards. Since Gay made a 27-yard field goal earlier in the game, why not have him kick a 27-yarder again?

The Buccaneers put themselves in position for the win when Winston completed a 44-yard pass to Mike Evans with nine seconds left that put Tampa Bay at New York's 9-yard line before the comedy of errors ensued. 

The Buccaneers, going on their eighth different kicker in eight seasons, drafted Gay in the fifth round to address their kicking problems. Going backward so Gay can have an easier kick isn't solving the problem.