Stephen Gostkowski’s confidence looks shaky

KontradictioN said:

I'm not advocating cutting him. But if I'm a coach and he openly admits to me that his confidence is shaken, he's on the next bus out of Boston tomorrow.

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I may have missed something but did he admit to that? In that case, that would be a problem but that would be a dumb thing for a kicker to admit to his coach.

If he misses some more here in the next few weeks..what do you do with him?

CheeseMonkeys said:

I may have missed something but did he admit to that? In that case, that would be a problem but that would be a dumb thing for a kicker to admit to his coach.

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It's a hypothetical my friend. And it's happened before. Just ask Jimmy Johnson.

When is his contract up?

Brady_to_Moss said:

When is his contract up?

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After the 2014 season.

TommyBrady12 said:

If the patriots lost today Gostkowksi would have been cut.

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No.. Kickers go through bad times. Bill would never cut Gostowski over a couple of early season games. He has to grow a set of balls and stop being a little wuss. I feel for kickers in a sense when the games decision rests in the balance of there attempt. But as of right now I would be scared to see him kick a game winner, especially if they are down in the points department.

Patriots2001 said:

I said after that huge miss against Arizona I hope this is not a Calvin Shiraldi moment and all you ole timers remember the Red sox Reliever who was dominent until he lost a playoff game and he crumbled after that..

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You make it sound as if his crumbling was all mental. He collapsed because he couldn't fool the Mets. He had just gotten traded from them that year. That was the one team in MLB he could not fool. What pitcher can succeed against guys that know every one of his tendencies?

I hope people are not going to use similar logic on Gostowski but I sense it's on the way.

Brady_to_Moss said:

If he misses some more here in the next few weeks..what do you do with him?

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He's just a kicker. If he has 2 more bad games I'd cut him. John Carney could come in and fill this guys shoes for vet minimum tomorrow. I don't know how fans get emotionally attached to any Kickers besides HOF #4 AV.

Edit: 2 bad games in a row.

Brady_to_Moss said:

i have no confidence in him making a 40+ anymore

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It's funny. I never did either before this preseason and early in the regular season where I saw him hitting 50+ yarders with plenty of leg and accuracy quite consistently. People forget how brilliant he was in the AZ game all afternoon before the last second miss. Now, however, I'm like you. I just worry when I see him trot onto the field like I did earlier in his career. I hope it hasn't gotten to him mentally because that would be a very bad thing for the Patriots.

i wonder if everyone was calling for vinateiris head when he missed all those kicks in the super bowl...then changed their tune when he made the game winner.

gost had a bad game today but every other game has been great. his miss against arizona was NOT on him..go back and look at the snap/hold...it was TERRIBLE.

nekromantique said:

i wonder if everyone was calling for vinateiris head when he missed all those kicks in the super bowl...then changed their tune when he made the game winner.

gost had a bad game today but every other game has been great. his miss against arizona was NOT on him..go back and look at the snap/hold...it was TERRIBLE.

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Laces out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The problem right now is that the coaches can't be sure that we have points in the red zone. If we come there, and don't turn the ball over, we should have at least three points. Now the OCs playcalling changes as he don't
really know if our kicker will make it. That's bad. That may force us to go on 4th more than we would like.

I say, take in some free agents and try them out, maybee it helps Gost to focus again.

SwedishPat said:

The problem right now is that the coaches can't be sure that we have points in the red zone. If we come there, and don't turn the ball over, we should have at least three points. Now the OCs playcalling changes as he don't
really know if our kicker will make it. That's bad. That may force us to go on 4th more than we would like.

I say, take in some free agents and try them out, maybee it helps Gost to focus again.

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You make a really good point about the play calling. Consistently missing field goals that should be givens will eventually change how a coach and OC approach a particular situation during the game. We saw that in SB42 where Bill opted to go for it on 4th and 12 as opposed to attempting the 40+ field goal (which I remember questioning at the time).

Kickers are a strange group of people.

It's one thing to miss a kick, because everyone does. Even the great Adam Vinatieri missed a kick in the 4th quarter last week that would have put the Colts ahead.

But Ghost did look confused after that second miss. The first one, he looked his usual self but after the second, he looked a bit lost. I'm glad he got the chance to kick one through the uprights at the end.

I'm not about to give up on him. If the Patriots have shown anything over the years, it's that players often rebound after tough performances and struggles. McCourty is the latest example of that. But if it's a confidence issue, that's going to be tougher to overcome.

BB is addressing the Gost situation. Instead of taking knees to end the game he set a situation where Gost had to go out and make a kick, albeit a high % one. I betcha Gost was thinking "I miss THIS one and I'm outa here." So there was pressure on that attempt.

Patriots2001 said:

I said after that huge miss against Arizona I hope this is not a Calvin Shiraldi moment and all you ole timers remember the Red sox Reliever who was dominent until he lost a playoff game and he crumbled after that..

He missed 2 more today i think he needs to win a game with his foot to get his mojoe back..I hope it's not an issue going forward


He never really has had pressure kicks where the game has been on the line and his foot determines the game..

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Agreed, I think getting him back into his groove was the reason they kicked that FG late. Normally when BB is up by that much they go for it & if we don't get it, the other team has to start deep in its own territory.

If this was the first game after the 'Arizona miss' then I would agree that there was something to this. What's odd is that we did have the Baltimore game sandwiched in between when drilled some impressive kicks.

But yes, the two field goal misses yesterday are still concerning.

Gostkowski, Welker, and Gronk all should have been wearing dunce caps during halftime yesterday. Welker and Gronk at least got the chance to redeem themselves. Gost got a late field goal that doesn't really count as redeeming. The field goal was meaningless from a game perspective.

Whatever is going on, I hope he shakes it off.

On the bright side it doesn't just seem to be our kicker. Looking around the league there are a lot of kickers missing kicks. Just think, even Justin Tucker was oh so close to being another goat. The giants lost last night on a field goal. The Saints missed a field goal that would have put them ahead late in the fourth. It's not just us, it's contagious.

He can bounce back no doubt.
Yesterday Cundiff honestly looked like he was going to puke as washington was setting up for a game winning FG. He had already missed 3 kicks that game. But guess what? He went out there and WON the game for his team. I was pretty happy for the kid. thats a huge confidence booster.
The same thing can happen for Ghost. I think he'll be fine.

-Sent from the device that is held in my hand-

Well I think you are right....this is exactly what NEEDS to happen. I think if they get a good , relatively CLUTCH kicker....he is gone next season for sure if not sooner. Kickers get paid to do one thing....Make the MAJORITY of kicks to win games or make a difference. IF they can not do that relatively consistently.....they are gone. This guy wasn't even given the chance to kick a FG IN A DOME during SB in 2007....because BB knew it would rattle the kid and he wouldn't be able to even hit a chip shot if necessary late in the game. I don't think Gost is a bad kicker overall....but he is NO Vinny...(I know F'in traitor but the dude was the most clutch kicker of all time Imho....) I think they will bring in some PK's this week....

NEboiTB said:

Maybe a little competition would help. We could sign Nick Novak after the Chargers cut him this week. Maybe a push for his job will help him regain that mojo he lost.

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