Really? A place kicker controversy in New England?

[goheels22002]

Reason #86 why the off-season makes me want to stick needles in my eyes:

Bleacher Report Dot Com is up to its old tricks creating a "controversy" that is no more than your usual camp competition for every job. But here you go - endless video of place kicks and photos of a worried Gostkowski.

Check it out: New England Patriots: Are the Pats Looking to Replace Kicker Stephen Gostkowski? | Bleacher Report

 

[bresna]

Being someone who sat in Foxboro last September and watched an almost certain loss turn into an almost certain win and finally witness it turn into a gut-wrenching loss, I would welcome a new placekicker. For the money Gostkowski's getting paid, he should have made that kick. You can (almost ) forgive a youngster for missing that but not a highly paid vet.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

I would welcome a new placekicker.

How did Shayne Graham work out for you?

 

[Dingleberry]

There are a handful of players who are immune to competition and really don't have to worry.

Gostkowski is far from being one of those players.

 

[Jimke]

No harm in a little competition for Gostkowski. Ruffer had quite a streak going for him (Lou Groza award) before he had a lousy senior year.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

There are a handful of players who are immune to competition and really don't have to worry.

Gostkowski is far from being one of those players.

Exactly, very few are actual 'locks' and Ghost is not one. That said, unless someone comes in and absolutely blows him away I don't think it'd make much sense to not stick with Ghost this year. Next year though I think alot could be saved if he were to be cut so I wouldn't mind a more serious competition next year.

 

[primetime]

Bleacher Report is just an aggregation website, they don't produce their own content. It's essentially the same as putting effort into making a post on this forum. There's no editing or fact-checking or filtering content for quality. You just... probably shouldn't look at Bleacher Report because 99% of the contributors are terrible.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Bleacher Report is just an aggregation website, they don't produce their own content. It's essentially the same as putting effort into making a post on this forum. There's no editing or fact-checking or filtering content for quality. You just... probably shouldn't look at Bleacher Report because 99% of the contributors are terrible.

No, B/R is a fan site that, in theory, lets anyone who can show they can write competently* post.

In any case, having seen some of the things Erik Frenz has posted there, it's clear that some articles there are suggested by editors.

*I use that term somewhat loosely.

 

[Rob0729]

Fact of the matter is that even the elite kickers have up and down years. People forget that before Vinatieri became a God in this region, he had several miserable years here. There was one season where he lost two or three games on missed last minute field goals.

I expect Gostkowski to bounce back from a mediocre season last year.

 

[Avenger]

Didn't the rookie we got this year miss 3 extra points in OTAs the other day? I think Ghost is safe

 

[patsinthesnow]

The UDFA kicker is a nobody, Gost is safe. OTOH there is a punter controversy.

Our UDFA punter is a 2x Ray Guy winner and beats Zoltan in nearly every way when comparing college stats. The kid is a beast.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Being someone who sat in Foxboro last September and watched an almost certain loss turn into an almost certain win and finally witness it turn into a gut-wrenching loss, I would welcome a new placekicker. For the money Gostkowski's getting paid, he should have made that kick. You can (almost ) forgive a youngster for missing that but not a highly paid vet.

That was an agonizing loss, but I think you have to look at the big picture — starting with the possibility that perfect kickers are hard to find.

Gostkowski has done pretty well here. He was gold in the 06-07 Division game in SD, one of the few times he's been on the field for a "Vinatieri moment."

Speaking of #4: Vinatieri famously missed an easy game winner vs KC in 1999. Certainly cutting him for that miss wold have changed a lot of Patriots history.

I did some quick research on that miss and Gost's choke last year. Interesting comparisons:

Courant on Vinatieri 1999:

Adam Vinatieri, who had never missed a game- winning kick for the Patriots until this one clanged off the right upright, had tears in his eyes. He said it was his fault. ...Vinatieri, who was wide to the left on his only other field goal try -- from 48 yards with 4:43 remaining in the third quarter -- has kicked six winning field goals in his three- plus seasons, including two this year against the Jets and Colts. But not this time.

Yates on Gostkowski 2012:

A simple scan of recent statistics pertaining to Stephen Gostkowski suggest he isn't just a player the Patriots can trust to make a big kick, but a weapon in the fourth quarter. The 42-yard miss Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals was Gostkowski's first ever during the fourth quarter at home (he was previously 21-of-21), and the first kick he had missed in the fourth quarter in any venue in 39 tries. To boot, Gostkowksi is the most accurate kicker in Patriots franchise history, and eighth overall in league annals with an 84.483 percent success rate.

 

[captain stone]

How did Shayne Graham work out for you?

Pretty good, actually:

Shayne Graham - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

14-14 on FGAs (surprisingly 35-37 on PATs).

The point remains, that Vinitraitor became legend in his 6th season; Ghost was over-paid,
based on his performance, in his 7th season. If he continues this trend, then he should not
be here for his 9th season.

 

[jbb9s]

Shayne Graham was perfect kicking field goals if I remember correctly. So really Gost wasn't missed at all after he got hurt that season.


What people here forget so easily is that Belichick let the greatest glutch kicker of all time, who single handedly won one super bowl, a huge contributor on the second (frozen kick against Tenn anyone?) and nailed that pressure kick against the Panthers was showed the door for wanting too much money.

And he was replaced by a no-one who made minimum rookie wage - unproven - never even kicked a 4th quarter of OT winner in college.

Anyone who says "well this new kicker is an undrafted nobody" is making a joke becase most kickers are undrafted. In fact, the difference between drafting the best prospect in the 4th round any given year and any un-drafted camp invite is minimal considering only 2 are drafted. So for you not following, I can get the 3rd best kicker in the offseason for free.

 

[jbb9s]

Gost fans also don't understand that a lot of his skill has been marginalized with the change in the rules. Adam couldn't get it into the endzone and the Pats were giving up 8-10 free yards every kickoff by not putting them at the 20 (with 0% of a runback). Over time = lots of points.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

Shayne Graham was perfect kicking field goals if I remember correctly. So really Gost wasn't missed at all after he got hurt that season.


What people here forget so easily is that Belichick let the greatest glutch kicker of all time, who single handedly won one super bowl, a huge contributor on the second (frozen kick against Tenn anyone?) and nailed that pressure kick against the Panthers was showed the door for wanting too much money.

And he was replaced by a no-one who made minimum rookie wage - unproven - never even kicked a 4th quarter of OT winner in college.

Anyone who says "well this new kicker is an undrafted nobody" is making a joke becase most kickers are undrafted. In fact, the difference between drafting the best prospect in the 4th round any given year and any un-drafted camp invite is minimal considering only 2 are drafted. So for you not following, I can get the 3rd best kicker in the offseason for free.

You are aware that the greatest clutch kicker of all time missed 3 of his first 6 playoff FG attempts, missed one in the AFCCG against the Steelers, was 1 of 2 in the Tenn game and missed 2 in the SB against Carolina.

I pointed those missed kicks out not to discredit Vinatieri but to show no kicker is perfect although that is what many fans seem to expect. If a rookie or FA is up to the task of beating Gost out of a job for a fraction of the cost than I'm all for it but that's easier said than done. He is still coming off of a year in which he lead the league in scoring (153) with the sixth highest total by a kicker in league history yet half the fan base wants him run out of town because he missed 6 (5) kicks.

 

[Ian]

Many of the writers who aren't the elite with BR rely on gaining page views any way they can and as a result sensationalize titles to gain views - much like this one. The better guys get views because they put out quality stuff and people go looking for it because they enjoy their analysis. Unfortunately the former seems to be far more common than the latter - and that's what makes me mostly ignore their headlines.

I wish they could make it where I didn't have to search for guys I know and enjoy reading, but sadly they probably know that would alienate the guys who are just looking for attention and that's probably why you can't subscribe to one author.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Gost fans also don't understand that a lot of his skill has been marginalized with the change in the rules. Adam couldn't get it into the endzone and the Pats were giving up 8-10 free yards every kickoff by not putting them at the 20 (with 0% of a runback). Over time = lots of points.

I wouldn't say he's marginalized. As it is, he gets tons of touchbacks, and even when he doesn't, teams have a hard time capitalizing on them (the Pats allowed an average of 20.7 YPR, fourth-best in the league).

So I'd say on KOs he's doing pretty much exactly what BB wants.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Many of the writers who aren't the elite with BR rely on gaining page views any way they can and as a result sensationalize titles to gain views - much like this one. The better guys get views because they put out quality stuff and people go looking for it because they enjoy their analysis. Unfortunately the former seems to be far more common than the latter - and that's what makes me mostly ignore their headlines.

I wish they could make it where I didn't have to search for guys I know and enjoy reading, but sadly they probably know that would alienate the guys who are just looking for attention and that's probably why you can't subscribe to one author.

Remember the first annoyance of most journalists: reporters generally don't write the headlines.

 

[Ian]

Remember the first annoyance of most journalists: reporters generally don't write the headlines.

Lol, True, but in Bleacher Report I believe they do

I wish they had more Erik Frenz's, etc. but fortunately the better ones seem to end up with better gigs. That's what you always hope for the guys who are talented, and it's always fun to see them end up moving on to bigger things

One thing I will say about this article though is the article linked to Miguel's page - so the author gets some points for that