Rookie kicker full of promise

"It was the first time this year that Sebastian came up to me and said, 'Coach, let's kick this one,"' Casullo said.

Coach Jon Gruden opted to punt, but that didn't matter to Casullo. The moment marked a significant turnaround in Janikowski, who had been tested early in his rookie season.

"I think that says a lot for his confidence," Casullo said. "He's not hiding behind the team hoping we score a touchdown."

The Raiders went on to beat the Chargers 15-13 -- on Janikowski's 24-yard field goal with 13 seconds left.

Janikowski, the Raiders' first-round draft pick out of Florida State, missed seven of his first 13 field-goal attempts as a pro, and was at times clearly shaken.

This wasn't supposed to happen: Janikowski was touted as one of the best power kickers ever to come into the league. The Raiders took him with the 17th overall pick, making him the first kicker taken in the first round of the draft in 21 years.

The Raiders ignored Janikowski's brushes with the law in Florida because they needed him to make a difference in close games. All eight of their losses last season came by a touchdown or less.

"Not to be critical of our performance from a special teams standpoint, but people say, 'You take a kicker in the first round, why did you do that?' Well, we were last or next to last in field goal accuracy in 1998 and 1999. They tell me in 1997 there was a problem with field goal accuracy here," Gruden said.

"Kickers are going to be your leading scorers, and they're going to be asked to go out in some very critical situations where everything is on the line, and perform and make kicks to help you move on."

But Janikowski came from a school where blowouts were the norm, and rarely did his kicks mean the difference in the game.

"He now realizes that: A., at this level you can win every game by a kick, and B., you've got to work on it," Casullo said.

Janikowski has been working diligently. On Wednesday afternoon he was out on the practice field early, trying to nail down his timing. Casullo said timing seems to be Janikowski's main problem at this point.

His get off time is so quick, that he's losing accuracy, the coach said.

Although he boasted to reporters in training camp that he could make a 65-yard field goal, Janikowski was quickly silenced by his poor start. He remained quiet Wednesday, avoiding the media in the locker room.

This Sunday, the Raiders will be at home against Kansas City, a team that Oakland beat 20-17 on Janikowski's 43-yard field goal with 25 seconds left three weeks ago.

Janikowski has made 14 of 22 field-goal attempts, including eight of his last nine tries.<