With the possible exception of Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, no player in the NFL has mastered his position in the same way Sebastian Janikowski has for the Raiders this season.
That was on display Sunday against the Chicago Bears, when the venerable Oakland kicker set a franchise record with six fields goals in a 25-20 win over the Bears.
Janikowski had been slowed in recent weeks by a pulled hamstring, but "The Polish Canon" was perfect from distances of 40, 47, 42, 19, 37, and 44 yards to bury Chicago. He broke the team record he previously shared with Jeff Jaeger.
"It means a lot," Janikowski said Sunday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "But there are plenty more records to be broken."
Janikowski is 22 for 24 on field-goal attempts this season, including an NFL-record tying 63-yard boot in Week 1.
Janikowski still pines for sole possession of the all-time distance mark.
"I want a 65-yarder, a 66-yarder," Janikowski said. "I want to break the record."
We'd usually frown on a player for being so openly consumed by his own numbers, but we'll make an exception for "Seabass" (that's two great nicknames, by the way), who could hold every kicking record worth owning before his time is done. Besides, he's a kicker ... we're talking a different set of rules.
It's hard to say any NFL team can match the combined prowess that Janikowski and punter Shane Lechler (who had an 80-yard boom on Sunday) bring to the Silver and Black.
