It was an ugly win, but a win nonetheless, and the Patriots now have a two game lead in the AFC East heading into their revenge game in Buffalo this Sunday. While the team is 6-1 and leading AFC overall, there is still room for improvement from a few noticeable areas, with the play of kicker Stephen Gostkowski near the top of that list.
So far in 2016, Gostkowski is tied for 24th in field goal accuracy, having made just 9 out of his 12 attempts. For comparison, three kickers are perfect so far in 2016: Justin Tucker, Greg Zuerlein, and our old friend Adam Vinatieri, who set the NFL record for consecutive field goals made at 43 yesterday (equaling his age), an astounding accomplishment for the 21-year pro. Six kickers have missed just one field goal, 10 have have missed two, nine (including Gostkowski) have missed three, and four have missed four or more.
Gostkowski’s career average is 86.9% (good for third all-time), which is a sharp contrast from his 75% average thus far this season. Last season, he hit 91.7% of his field goals, missed just three, was a first-team All-Pro and was named to the Pro Bowl for the third straight year. In 2014, his success rate was a career high 94.6% on field goals, missed just two, and setting his personal record for field goals made in one season with 38. In 2013, he hit 92.7% of his field goals, and missed just three. Gostkowski’s worst season of his career (not including his injury-shortened 2010 campaign that was cut short after just eight games) was his rookie season in 2006, in which he hit on just 76.9% of his field goals. While it is only a seven game sample size, Gostkowski’s 2016 season is on track to produce a career-low in field goal accuracy. Gostkowski is certainly not paid to perform like this (he received the second-most guaranteed money ever for a kicker in his newest contract), and a large faction of Patriot Nation is up in arms with the performance of their All-Pro kicker.
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