Stephen Gostkowski named AFC’s Special Teams Player of the Week
Gostkowski made all five of his kicking opportunities, and his play proved to be the difference.
Bill Belichick hates storylines, but the most obvious ones from Sunday night’s win over the Cardinals were Jimmy Garoppolo’s better-than-expected play, and the New England defense bottling up an explosive Arizona offense.
But the correct storyline, and one Belichick would surely approve, is that recently crowned AFC Special Teams Player of the Week outdueled his counterpart Chandler Catanzaro behind three field goals, from 47 yards, 53 yards, and 32 yards – the last of which became the game-winner when Catanzaro failed to make his own 50-yard field goal during his team’s final possession.
Gostkowski also, of course, made his two extra points, and left Arizona with a starting field position of just the 18-yard line, seven yards shy of the new touchback line.
The Patriots announced Gostkowski’s newest accolade Wednesday morning. It is the fourth time he has won the award, and the team also noted that he has been named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month three times as well: in October of 2008 and 2009, as well as September of 2015.
Though sometimes his moves raise eyebrows, Belichick has always emphasized his Special Teams unit, regularly finding roster spots for players who can contribute to that phase, and even rewarding his best performers with extensions early, and occasionally well-above market value.
His selection of Joe Cardona, a long-snapper, looks particularly good in the wake of Arizona’s own long-snapper firing a bad snap just before Catanzaro’s missed field goal.
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