Gostkowski

[Kdo5]

In the past three seasons, Gotkowski has shanked three extra points in huge games. Two were extremely costly or almost so (AFCG Den, SB 51) and yet another one in a close game (SB 52). That's just not acceptable from one of the best kickers in the game.

The botched snap FG wasn't his fault.

 

[PittPatriot]

that was cundiff

vinatieri was automatic and bb trusted him

My apologies...yes, that was Cundiff.

 

[luuked]

In the past three seasons, Gotkowski has shanked three extra points in huge games. Two were extremely costly or almost so (AFCG Den, SB 51) and yet another one in a close game (SB 52). That's just not acceptable from one of the best kickers in the game.

The botched snap FG wasn't his fault.

You seem to agree that he is one of the best kickers in the league so what exactly can you do about the occasional miss ?

Of course him missing kicks is not ideal but I fail to see what exactly the team is supposed to do about it. Drafting kickers is a ****show as recently proven by some very early picked kickers, what FAs are an upgrade over Ghost and I doubt anyone wants us to trade an early round pick for another top 5 kicker. Is there even a top 5 kicker who is similarly reliable on kickoffs as Ghost ?

There is really nothing that can upgrade our situation because we are already in a very good one.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

@Chris Stevenson
So you consider a 50yd FG in the 3rd quarter of a playoff game to signify “ice in the veins?”
Do you consider Adam Vinatieri to have icy veins?
In the 2003 SB, AV missed FG attempts from 31 and 36 yards...ones that could have decided the game.
He was fortunate a botched kick off and a clutch quarterback have him a chance to nail a 40 yarder at the end - his only make of the game.

In every big game, there are many plays when several Skill Position players miss opportunities that "could have decided the game" or changed the direction of the game.

Brady (even Brady) throws to a covered receiver when someone else is open for a potential score, a Corner (even Revis) drops a sure pick-six, a running back (even Jim Brown) doesn't cut to the open hole and gets tackled for a loss instead of picking up 30 yards, a Receiver (even Jim Rice) doesn't get the extension he should to make a catch to prolong a drive.

The truth is that most of those events are forgotten (there is seldom something as memorable as Welker's drop in XLVI), but when a Kicker misses a Kick he should or might usually have made, he is standing out there all alone and he is continually reminded of it.

Against the Panthers, #4 missed a couple of what should have been chip shots. No doubt.

But, when the game was on the line and he had a chance to win the game, he came through. I'm certain that, if we go through the tape of that game, play by play, we'll find multiple missed opportunities by Patriots' skill players that could have "decided" the game before it ended up being put in the hands of AV.

I have always been a big supporter of Gostkowski. His only "fault" is that he has never had a chance to make "the" kick at "the" moment to win a Championship. And, he has certainly never had the opportunity to make a 45 yard FG into the teeth of a blizzard to send a Playoff game into OT that would henceforth be known as "the greatest kick under pressure in the history of the NFL."

As far as I can see, there is no reasonably available, superior alternative at this time to Stephen Gostkowski, whose only "crime" is that he isn't Adam Vinatieri.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

Here is the basic problem in a nutshell:

If you replace Gostkowski, you will save money, because you will have a worse kicker who doesn't deserve what Gostkowski earns.

OTOH, you will also likely upgrade another team's kicking game, quite possibly for another decade. The most frightening thought . . . Gostkowski in Denver.

 

[Chris Stevenson]

My apologies...yes, that was Cundiff.

I still couldn't believe he jerked it that badly and Harbaugh was busy running his mouth after the game about some kind of clock manipulation by the Pats. It's just amazing what a loser Harbaugh is and how long he's been playing games. He cannot stand when his team is inferior to the Pats and just can't accept it.