Is Stephen Gostkowski Losing Bill Belichick's Trust?
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- There's no easy solution to the struggles of Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski, other than the fact that he simply needs to play better. Kicking may be a problem across most of the National Football League in 2016, but the once-ultra-reliable Gostkowski has now struggled to the point where he is affecting the Patriots' on-field strategy.
Gostkowski missed five kicks in his first seven games - three missed field goals, two missed extra points - but appeared to be turning the corner with perfect games against the Bills and Seahawks, going 8-for-8 on extra points and 3-for-3 on field goals in the two games. But the problem has reared its ugly head in the past two games for Gostkowski, who missed an extra point early in Week 11 against the San Francisco 49ers and missed a field goal at the end of the first half against the Jets.
It's now gotten to the point where Gostkowski's inability to consistently hit kicks that he historically makes has affected Bill Belichick's play-calling. On 4th-and-4 at the Jets' 37-yard-line with 2:53 left and the Patriots down just one point, Belichick opted to go for it instead of sending Gostkowski out to attempt a 54-yard field goal. It would be hard to argue that, in recent years, Gostkowski would not have gotten that opportunity.
Is that a sign that the head coach is losing trust in Gostkowski for the first time in years?
It was a unique situation in the game, so it's hard to pinpoint Belichick's reasoning to go for it. A made field goal would have left the Patriots up two with no guarantee of keeping the Jets out of field goal range on the next possession, so it's easy to understand why Belichick would go for the touchdown on that drive. But the move can't be seen as a sign that Belichick doesn't trust his defense, because he was going to have to put them back on the field anyway after scoring the go-ahead touchdown. Even if the Jets scored after a made field goal, they would have been up five points at the most. The Patriots still had all three of their timeouts and could have gotten the ball back with enough clock for Tom Brady to drive the Patriots back down the field.
Someone here is losing Belichick's trust. Who is it, if not the kicker?
What can't really be argued is that Belichick felt he had a better chance of Brady finding an open guy for four yards than Gostkowski hitting a field goal from 50-plus yards. Gostkowski is 2-for-3 on field goal attempts of 50-plus yards in 2016 and 19-for-25 (76 percent) in his career from that range. Brady is 2-for-3 on 4th down in 2016 and, on 4th down with 4 or more yards to go, he is 12-for-28 (42.9 percent) in his career.
In this spot, Belichick felt the odds of the offense converting on 4th-and-4 were better than the kicker's chances of hitting a big field goal.
It would have been interesting to see what the Patriots did had they gotten to 4th down within a more respectable field goal range. But as it stands, Belichick denied Gostkowski the chance to kick a long field goal when in previous seasons he would have sent him out there in most situations. Brady ended up throwing the game-winning touchdown pass and the defense got the turnover they desperately needed, so it all worked out in the end. But there's no doubt that Gostkowski is having a down year by his standards and it could now be creeping into the Patriots' game plans.
Gostkowski simply needs to play better as the Patriots enter the home stretch of the season. If his struggles continue to affect the Patriots' point totals and Belichick's strategy, it could be one of the team's ultimate downfalls.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
