Why do we give Gostowski a pass for how unclutch he has been in the playoffs?

[Joey007]

Odd that the list doesn't include Tucker since he's today's gold standard and the only current kicker I'd take over Gostkowski. In 6 playoff games he's 8/8 on FG's & 23/23 on XP's

Justin Tucker simply doesn’t miss. You have to block his kicks in order for him to miss. (Thanks Shea)

 

[Joey007]

Who gives the Ghost a pass? Have you ever read this board during a game?

Everyone gets criticism in the game threads. Those don’t count.

 

[A Defiant Goose]

I give him a pass because he hasn't missed a big GW or game tying kick in the postseason. Kickers "clutchness" to me lies there, not in missed 2nd or 3rd quarter kicks

 

[JarOfMayo51]

Remember that one of those kicks was blocked and he was dealing with a 3rd string LS in Brian Kinchen who they had signed out of a classroom a few weeks earlier.

The one kick he made was pretty important also, and I had little doubt he would make it at the time.

You gotta love “best interest Bill”. He brought a 2nd punter into camp to challenge his reliable punter and perhaps save $400 000 but didn’t bring a rookie in to challenge his unreliable $6 million kicker and perhaps save $5 million.

“Best interest Bill” was stingy and let his iconic HOF kicker leave for a hated rival presumably because Vinatieri wanted too much money only to end up paying as much or more to a worse kicker. “Best interest Bill” sure doesn’t like to keep people around who might steal some of his glory, does he?

Excellent point, Kraft should fire Bill immediately

 

[Hyped]

Comments:

a.) A definite sign that we are in the dog days of the off-season = A thread about our kicker.

b.) Gostkowski is what he is....a very good kicker (especially kick offs) with a penchant for missing PAT's at inopportune times.

c.) I still wish BB let him kick a 50+ yarder in SB 42.

d.) Yes, the Denver PAT miss bothered me a lot.....and the PAT miss in SB 52 (although that was a snap/hold issue).

e.) We can't do better than Gostkowski. Bring in a rookie? We lose 5 yards on kick offs and the rookie might wilt under pressure and we'd be worse off.

 

[goheels22002]

Think about it.

I still say that if it weren’t for him, we beat Denver in 2015. Not only does it become a tie game at the end instead of going for 2, but odds are BB has more faith in letting him kick once or twice rather than constantly going for it on 4th down late in the game so many times. So going for the FG and making it just one of those times would have been enough for us to win in regulation.

In the SB against Atlanta, he misses an extra point again. He’s lucky that Tom was able to somehow pull off two 2 point conversions in a row, otherwise he may have cost us another ring.

And then this last year he goes and misses a chip shot FG, along with yet another missed XP. Can’t completely blame the loss on him obviously, but those points add up.

Come to think of it, has this guy ever done anything clutch in the playoffs?

I understand why we haven’t gotten rid of him, as good kickers can be hard to find. (ask the Chargers) But why do we herald this guy like he’s one of the best? He’s folded under pressure time and time again.

Gostkowski is #2 all-time in career points scored behind Adam Vinatieri.

NFL Points Scored Career Playoffs Leaders | Pro-Football-Reference.com

 

[captain stone]

e.) We can't do better than Gostkowski...

How do you know until real competition is brought to TC?

 

[Crazy Patriot Guy]

Made the one that mattered most.

Plus you’re only pointing out one game. I just pointed out three in consecutive seasons.

So it's ok that Adam missed two in that game because he made the one that mattered? Well, when did we lose a playoff game because Gost missed a FG in the final seconds?

Vinatieri was certainly clutch for us but he also had opportunities. When did Gost get a chance to tie the game in a blizzard with the season on the line or win two Super Bowls for us instead of the games going into OT?

Adam had misses too but again, we have those amazing moments to remember him coming through for us. Gost hasn't had those same opportunities, so we're left to criticize his every miss.

 

[Ring 6]

Gostkowski has made 34/38 career post season fgs. Prior to missing a couple last season he had gone 7 years and 21 straight attempts without missing in the post season.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

No matter which side of this debate you fall on, this definitely falls under "first world sports team problems".

Regards,
Chris

 

[DaBruinz]

Think about it.

I still say that if it weren’t for him, we beat Denver in 2015. Not only does it become a tie game at the end instead of going for 2, but odds are BB has more faith in letting him kick once or twice rather than constantly going for it on 4th down late in the game so many times. So going for the FG and making it just one of those times would have been enough for us to win in regulation.

Say what? First of all, you have no idea how the game would have changed if Gost had made the 1st XP. None. You're making the SWAG that everything else stays the same. It doesn't. Once one thing changes, it ALL changes. You're also ignoring that Gostkowski was 2 for 2 on FGs in the game (46,38 respectively. Both after the missed XP).

Claiming that the loss was all because of Gostkowski is laughable. Especially when you factor the 2 Brady interceptions. One of which was to Von Miller inside the Patriots 30.. Or you take into consideration that James White did nothing with the Run game and that Brandon Bolden was the best RB for the Patriots with his 5 Rushes for 12 yards.. Or that the O-line (as injured as it was) allowed 4 sacks. Or that Jamie Collins got burnt twice by Owen Daniels for TDs..

All of those things had BIGGER impacts than Gostkowski missing the XP early in the game.

Watch New England Patriots vs. Denver Broncos [01/24/2016] - NFL.com

The Pats were 1 for 3 on 4th downs against Denver. All 3 came in the 4th quarter on consecutive drives.

The first was a 4-1 from the Denver 16 with the Pats down 20-12. The pass to Edelman lost a yard. Everyone and their brother was wondering why the Pats didn't use the Brady sneak with such short yardage. Especially when the RBs hadn't gotten squat done all game.

The second was 4-6 from the Denver 14 with the Pats still down 20-12. The pass to Gronkowski was incomplete.

The 3rd was successful. The TD to Gronkowski that brought them to 20-18.

In the SB against Atlanta, he misses an extra point again. He’s lucky that Tom was able to somehow pull off two 2 point conversions in a row, otherwise he may have cost us another ring.

Again. You're attempting to re-write history here. Gostkowski's missed XP against Atlanta was a non-factor compared to other issues. Such as the Offense not doing anything for the 1st half of the game. Such as Atlanta having a 21-3 half-time lead and going up 28-3.

Watch New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons [02/05/2017] - NFL.com

And then this last year he goes and misses a chip shot FG, along with yet another missed XP. Can’t completely blame the loss on him obviously, but those points add up.

Come to think of it, has this guy ever done anything clutch in the playoffs?

Watch Philadelphia Eagles vs. New England Patriots [02/04/2018] - NFL.com

You're so generous for not completely blaming Gostkowski for the loss.. Seriously. WTF is up with you? Did you take Triumph's anti-pats weed or something?

The Patriots shouldn't have lost this past SB. The league SCREWED them by using the Pass Catch rules that hadn't been accepted yet and not using the rules that had been in use all year. Had they followed the rules the way they were supposed to, the catch by Corey Clements is nullified and so is the one by Ertz (which never actually happens because of the everything after the Clements nullification changes)..

I understand why we haven’t gotten rid of him, as good kickers can be hard to find. (ask the Chargers) But why do we herald this guy like he’s one of the best? He’s folded under pressure time and time again.

He's folded under pressure? No. He hasn't. He hasn't been in pressure situations to fold in. Claiming that the situation you mention were "pressure" situations doesn't actually make them so. Pressure situations are End of game, score tied or the team behind and him making or missing it.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

T

2006 - 8 / 8
2007 - 1 / 2
2009 - 0 / 1
2011 - 5 / 5
2012 - 4 / 4
2013 - 1 / 1
2014 - 1 / 1
2015 - 4 / 4
2016 - 7 / 7
2017 - 3 / 5

Total - 34 / 38
https://www.foxsports.com/nfl/stephen-gostkowski-player-stats?seasonType=2

Not to shabby ... 4 misses in 25 games ... I will give him a pass.

Plus 1 of those misses wasn’t his fault against philly - bad snap/hold.

 

[chasa]

How do you know until real competition is brought to TC?

Fair enough. Who do you sign and bring in to compete??

 

[condon84]

He takes two defenders with him on every single play.

 

[Joey007]

Say what? First of all, you have no idea how the game would have changed if Gost had made the 1st XP. None. You're making the SWAG that everything else stays the same. It doesn't. Once one thing changes, it ALL changes. You're also ignoring that Gostkowski was 2 for 2 on FGs in the game (46,38 respectively. Both after the missed XP).

Claiming that the loss was all because of Gostkowski is laughable. Especially when you factor the 2 Brady interceptions. One of which was to Von Miller inside the Patriots 30.. Or you take into consideration that James White did nothing with the Run game and that Brandon Bolden was the best RB for the Patriots with his 5 Rushes for 12 yards.. Or that the O-line (as injured as it was) allowed 4 sacks. Or that Jamie Collins got burnt twice by Owen Daniels for TDs..

All of those things had BIGGER impacts than Gostkowski missing the XP early in the game.

Watch New England Patriots vs. Denver Broncos [01/24/2016] - NFL.com

The Pats were 1 for 3 on 4th downs against Denver. All 3 came in the 4th quarter on consecutive drives.

The first was a 4-1 from the Denver 16 with the Pats down 20-12. The pass to Edelman lost a yard. Everyone and their brother was wondering why the Pats didn't use the Brady sneak with such short yardage. Especially when the RBs hadn't gotten squat done all game.

The second was 4-6 from the Denver 14 with the Pats still down 20-12. The pass to Gronkowski was incomplete.

The 3rd was successful. The TD to Gronkowski that brought them to 20-18.



Again. You're attempting to re-write history here. Gostkowski's missed XP against Atlanta was a non-factor compared to other issues. Such as the Offense not doing anything for the 1st half of the game. Such as Atlanta having a 21-3 half-time lead and going up 28-3.

Watch New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons [02/05/2017] - NFL.com



Watch Philadelphia Eagles vs. New England Patriots [02/04/2018] - NFL.com

You're so generous for not completely blaming Gostkowski for the loss.. Seriously. WTF is up with you? Did you take Triumph's anti-pats weed or something?

The Patriots shouldn't have lost this past SB. The league SCREWED them by using the Pass Catch rules that hadn't been accepted yet and not using the rules that had been in use all year. Had they followed the rules the way they were supposed to, the catch by Corey Clements is nullified and so is the one by Ertz (which never actually happens because of the everything after the Clements nullification changes)..



He's folded under pressure? No. He hasn't. He hasn't been in pressure situations to fold in. Claiming that the situation you mention were "pressure" situations doesn't actually make them so. Pressure situations are End of game, score tied or the team behind and him making or missing it.

Wow. How did you find a way to go off on this tangent? Talk about being over sensitive. Once again proving my point.

Anti Pats weed? Wtf are you talking about? Because I criticized the kicker for missing easy kicks in big situations? Kicks that he almost never misses in any other situation?

Your first paragraph comes off as nauseatingly delusional. I’m sick of fans like you giving our fan base a bad name by constantly blaming all of our mistakes on the world being out to get us. Our defense didn’t make the stops they needed to. Our coach mysteriously benched a key starter. And lastly Gost’s missed kicks did not help either. A lot went wrong. We know this.


I’m surely not saying he’s the reason we lost the last SB, or why we could’ve lost the Atlanta SB. I’m just saying that his misses can potentially have big consequences. The miss he had did have HUGE consequences in the AFCCG vs. Denver. Bill completely lost trust in allowing him to kick long distance for the rest of the game. Completely changed late game strategy. So you’re damn right his miss cost us dearly in that game.

You’re saying it like I’m saying he’s the only reason why. Of course he’s not the only reason. No **** genius.

In fact it’s pretty hilarious considering that you’re blaming our loss entirely on a ticky tacky rule not going our way.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Wow. How did you find a way to go off on this tangent? Talk about being over sensitive. Once again proving my point.

Anti Pats weed? Wtf are you talking about? Because I criticized the kicker for missing easy kicks in big situations? Kicks that he almost never misses in any other situation?

Your first paragraph comes off as nauseatingly delusional. I’m sick of fans like you giving our fan base a bad name by constantly blaming all of our mistakes on the world being out to get us. Our defense didn’t make the stops they needed to. Our coach mysteriously benched a key starter. And lastly Gost’s missed kicks did not help either. A lot went wrong. We know this.


I’m surely not saying he’s the reason we lost the last SB, or why we could’ve lost the Atlanta SB. I’m just saying that his misses can potentially have big consequences. The miss he had did have HUGE consequences in the AFCCG vs. Denver. Bill completely lost trust in allowing him to kick long distance for the rest of the game. Completely changed late game strategy. So you’re damn right his miss cost us dearly in that game.

You’re saying it like I’m saying he’s the only reason why. Of course he’s not the only reason. No **** genius.

In fact it’s pretty hilarious considering that you’re blaming our loss entirely on a ticky tacky rule not going our way.

I don't think we'll ever know why Ghost wasn't asked to go out to attempt field goals late in the 4th quarter rather than going for it and not converting. I thought this was another bad coaching move by BB trying to get all the points at once rather than chip away with field goals. They would've beat the Broncos had they attempted and made those field goals. I just can't imagine why a coach would lose confidence in a kicker just because he missed an extra point at the beginning of a game.

With that being said, had they made the Super Bowl that year, I don't think they would've beaten the Panthers. They seem to have the Pats number.

 

[Chevy]

Playoffs: 95% XP / 89% FG
Reg Season: 99% XP / 88% FG


To compare, AV's stats:

Playoffs: 100% XP / 82% FG
Reg Season: 98% XP / 84% FG

Yes, he did miss a few that were questionable. But, the entire body of work says this is a guy you keep.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

This article by Sally Jenkins basically explains why Belichick treated Gostkowski with kid gloves in the 2006 playoffs. I'm guessing the same logic explained the decision not to kick in 2007.

Going for it on fourth-and-a million, taking three points off the board, a 48-yard FG attempt indoors on turf, not even a game-winning situation...fatally stupid.

 

[bresna]

No matter that it wasn't the playoffs, but Gostkowski was the sole reason the Patriots lost game 2 of the 2012 season at home against the Cardinals. Wins & losses are team stats but that one was on him.

 

[TheRainMaker]

No matter that it wasn't the playoffs, but Gostkowski was the sole reason the Patriots lost game 2 of the 2012 season at home against the Cardinals. Wins & losses are team stats but that one was on him.

Woodhead had a long rushing TD called back late in the game the gave the Pats the lead because of a bogus hold at the line of scrimmage by Gronk. That was a really bad call.