Gramatica

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

Thanks to the DirectTV NFL Sunday, I watched the Colts v Jets @ 1pm on Sunday followed by the Pats-Cats @ 4:15pm. (Living in South Florida, without the ticket, I would have been forced to sit through friggin' Fish @ Texans @ 1pm!)

Anyway, I am sitting there watching Martin Gramatica drill dead-center everything but the cheerleaders and I'm thinking how I wish we could have kept him instead of Gost-miss-ki.

Kind of funny...of the three kickers that have set foot on Foxboro turf over the past two seasons, the Colts got #1 & #2 and we ended up with #3!

How did we let THAT happen?

So, now the Colts will continue to reap the fruits of Gramatica & Vinatieri and we will continue to shudder in terror every time Gost-miss-ki lines up for a routine kick that will ultimately:

a) go WAY wide right
b) be too low with various excuses (the turf; the linemen were too tall; etc, etc)

Here we are, a decent team with a real chance to win our division and a kicker that is only good from inside the 20-yard line!

ADPF

 

[desi-patsfan]

man give him some time. Gramatica is a veteran ofcourse he is more reliable at the moment. Ghost is gonna get his act together. His kickoffs are already awesome. Once he gets confidence and hits some 40+ yarders. He is gonna becomes one of the best. You dont get down on a rookie kicker 4 games into his first season. If this continues for a bunch more games than ofcourse you will have to do something, but for now, give him a chance.

 

[BelichickFan]

Gramatica is about to be released with the return of you know who. I'm not totally down on Gotti but am nervous - I would be comfortable re-signing Gramatica just in case Gotti has a bad day this week.

 

[Brownfan80]

This is pure-D knee jerk reaction.

He's -missed- ONE kick.
He's had two blocked.
He's a ROOKIE. He'll work through it and be better for it.

 

[dhamz]

did you also see where that low line drive kick-off by Gramatica cost his team 7 points and should have cost them the game?

 

[JackBauer]

Armen,

This is a pathetic thread. Gost-miss-ski?

He missed one FG wide-right and now "every time" he lines up we're going to have to be nervous? You're comfortable making that assertion from a sample size of... one kick? Piss-poor logic there, chief.

He's a f---ing rookie. What do you expect? Vinatieri only hit 8 of 14 from 40+ in his first year, and IIRC that was after a year of kicking in NFL Europe.

Plus, nowhere do you even make mention of his kickoffs, which I believe are the best in the NFL. How have Gramatica's kickoffs been?

I guess it's a good thing that you don't work for the Pats FO, or it'd be like a return to the Grier years.

 

[DaBruinz]

Thanks to the DirectTV NFL Sunday, I watched the Colts v Jets @ 1pm on Sunday followed by the Pats-Cats @ 4:15pm. (Living in South Florida, without the ticket, I would have been forced to sit through friggin' Fish @ Texans @ 1pm!)

Anyway, I am sitting there watching Martin Gramatica drill dead-center everything but the cheerleaders and I'm thinking how I wish we could have kept him instead of Gost-miss-ki.

Kind of funny...of the three kickers that have set foot on Foxboro turf over the past two seasons, the Colts got #1 & #2 and we ended up with #3!

How did we let THAT happen?

So, now the Colts will continue to reap the fruits of Gramatica & Vinatieri and we will continue to shudder in terror every time Gost-miss-ki lines up for a routine kick that will ultimately:

a) go WAY wide right
b) be too low with various excuses (the turf; the linemen were too tall; etc, etc)

Here we are, a decent team with a real chance to win our division and a kicker that is only good from inside the 20-yard line!

ADPF

Damn, its nice to see expectations are so frigging ludicrous for the kid. He's a ROOKIE. He's going to have misses. Vinatieri wasn't automatic during his rookie year either (27 for 35). Or did you not bother to do that research?

Also, its not like the 2 blocks were totally Gostkowski's fault. The line did a poor job of blocking and allowing the opposition to get far enough in where they could jump and block the 1st kick and on the 2nd kick, it was a guy coming in from the end that blocked the kick. That shouldn't be happening. If it is, its not Gostkowski's fault.

OH, and, btw, there have been 4 kickers in Foxboro the last 2 years. Vinatieri, Gould, Gramatica, and Gostkowski. I honestly think that the Pats hoped to keep gould in the shadows until this year, but he signed with the Bears last year and has done a great job for them.

 

[italian pat patriot]

i like Gostkowksi , i think he will be a good kicker for us not only for kickoffs but i have to admit too that i'm a little bit nervous when he is kicking FG

having said that i repeat: he is a rookie - we must be patient

i would like to be in BB head (how he thinks about Gostkowksi ?)

 

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

man give him some time. Gramatica is a veteran ofcourse he is more reliable at the moment. Ghost is gonna get his act together. His kickoffs are already awesome. Once he gets confidence and hits some 40+ yarders. He is gonna becomes one of the best. You dont get down on a rookie kicker 4 games into his first season. If this continues for a bunch more games than ofcourse you will have to do something, but for now, give him a chance.

I must confess...I do love his kickoffs!

I can't remember the last time we've had this kidn of success reagrding touchbacks (AV never had that kind of leg)...

But, ultimately, a kciker will be judged on points, and while Gost-miss-ki has not been awful (3-6 on FG & 11-11 on PATs), he just makes me nervous...

If it is true that Gramatica is about to be released, I would love to sign him just for a little stability (6-8 games) while Gost-miss-ki gets his head together...

Can you put a kicker on your practice squad?

ADPF

 

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

This is pure-D knee jerk reaction.

He's -missed- ONE kick.
He's had two blocked.
He's a ROOKIE. He'll work through it and be better for it.

Perhaps it is a little knee-jerk, I'll admit, but I have probably been spoiled by having AV as our kicker...

And, as I said in earlier post, I must confess to loving his booming kickoffs...

And, again, while Gost-miss-ki has not been awful (3-6 on FG & 11-11 on PATs), he just makes me nervous...

I am a fan, so of course, I want him to work out and I want him to be successful for my team, but I am not going to give him a pass just because he's a rookie. He's still gotta make his friggin' kicks!

ADPF

 

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

did you also see where that low line drive kick-off by Gramatica cost his team 7 points and should have cost them the game?

I did...he clanked that one!

 

[Armen Da Pats Fan]

Armen,

This is a pathetic thread. Gost-miss-ski?

He missed one FG wide-right and now "every time" he lines up we're going to have to be nervous? You're comfortable making that assertion from a sample size of... one kick? Piss-poor logic there, chief.

He's a f---ing rookie. What do you expect? Vinatieri only hit 8 of 14 from 40+ in his first year, and IIRC that was after a year of kicking in NFL Europe.

Plus, nowhere do you even make mention of his kickoffs, which I believe are the best in the NFL. How have Gramatica's kickoffs been?

I guess it's a good thing that you don't work for the Pats FO, or it'd be like a return to the Grier years.

Come on, Jack...

You LOVE the "Gost-miss-ki" thing!

You'll be stealing it from me later, when I'm not looking...that's cool!

LOL!

(Bobby Grier was a loving, caring, misunderstood gentleman! Who could argue with the Sedrick Shaw & Chris Canty picks?)

 

[mgcolby]

Gramatica kicked a 20 yard FG and 4 extra points. And his Kickoffs were not anything to write home about. Gots will be fine in time and if this offense gels like it should and our Defense continues to hold opponents to less than 20 PPG, the Pats shouldn't need a game winning FG come playoff time. Doesn't mean I wouldn't be nervous if it came down to a game winning or tying FG but I am not willing to throw in the towel on the best kicker in college football last year.

 

[Gumby]

Has he missed a PAT or an under 35 yarder yet (not counting blocks) ?

Then PLEASE stop being chicken little.

the vaunted vinatieri missed 3 PATs his rookie year.


Doing a statistical analysis on a sample size of 6 is pretty good way to come up with a meaningless judgement.

 

[brady2brown]

If it is true that Gramatica is about to be released, I would love to sign him just for a little stability (6-8 games) while Gost-miss-ki gets his head together...

Can you put a kicker on your practice squad?

ADPF

Kindly explain how signing a second kicker will help get a kid's head together? Is it knowing that he'll be on the bench if he misses a kick or if a guy breaks through the line and blocks a kick. Yeah, that's a terrific environment to help a rookie get his head together.

In theory you can put him on the practice squad. In practice, there will probably be a boatload of teams that claim him on waivers the minute he is cut. Most football front offices don't give up on a promising rookie because he plays like a rookie.

I suppose you would have cut Maroney after Denver.

 

[patsox23]

A truly terrible thread. Take a breath.

 

[Patriotic Fervor]

You'd think this guy was referencing Teddy Garcia!

Get a grip, man! As soon as the offense gels, we won't spend too much time worrying about 48-yard field goals! In the meantime, Mr. Gostkowski will progress just fine, thank you.

And in passing, if he's so Gawd-awful, what's our record? Have his misses cost us any games?

While, from this point on, AV will see declining skills as a kicker, Gost will see his improve (and maybe accelerate).

Chill....

 

[Digger44]

Perhaps it is a little knee-jerk, I'll admit, but I have probably been spoiled by having AV as our kicker...

And, as I said in earlier post, I must confess to loving his booming kickoffs...

And, again, while Gost-miss-ki has not been awful (3-6 on FG & 11-11 on PATs), he just makes me nervous...

I am a fan, so of course, I want him to work out and I want him to be successful for my team, but I am not going to give him a pass just because he's a rookie. He's still gotta make his friggin' kicks!

ADPF

What the heck are you talking about? Spoiled with AV as our kicker??? Do you even watch the NFL? I don't understand how you come off with this stuff. Here are some facts. Please do not missread them. All are AV's feild goal percentages per year.

1996-77.1%
1997-86.2%
1998-79.5%
1999-78.8%
2000-81.8%
2001-80.0%
2002-90.0%
2003-73.5%
2004-93.9%
2005-80.0%

Two great years thats it. The rest were either average or trash. In fact for 4 years he averaged under 80%. Over his career he averaged under 82%.

How do you get off ranking on the Ghost? Ya, ya, the clutch thing comes into play, but how do we know Ghost isnt clutch? Was AV clutch in his first year?

Please evalute the situation with the fact and not your emotional attachment to a kicker who has played 1 stinking game all this season.

 

[Brownfan80]

Perhaps it is a little knee-jerk, I'll admit, but I have probably been spoiled by having AV as our kicker...

And, as I said in earlier post, I must confess to loving his booming kickoffs...

And, again, while Gost-miss-ki has not been awful (3-6 on FG & 11-11 on PATs), he just makes me nervous...

I am a fan, so of course, I want him to work out and I want him to be successful for my team, but I am not going to give him a pass just because he's a rookie. He's still gotta make his friggin' kicks!

ADPF

Yeah, I think he'll be alright. The blockers need to block for him. He'll get more used to the home turf and the timing of live bullets. He did fine in preseason, so you know he's got it in him, he's just gotta get it out there on the field now that it's for real. He will, I think.

 

[RodRustsGhost]

I am so glad we didn't take Gramatica. After reading Gostkowski's bio, and how mentally tough the kid is, I feel very confident that we made a great choice, not jsut for this year, but for the future.

So far, he's missed one long fieldgoal. In my book the two blocks were NOT his fault.