Numbers say Stephen Gostkowski is a below-average kicker
But for another rabbit-from-a-hat fourth-quarter drive by the Patriots, the Stephen Gostkowski problem would have risen to crisis levels. The kicker’s miss on a field goal attempt from 39 yards at the end of the first half — 3 lost points that loomed large when New England trailed the Jets, 17-16, until the final minutes of the game — continued a pattern in which once-automatic kicks now prompt a growing specter of doubt.
Gostkowski has missed two field goal attempts from 30-39 yards this year — one more than he missed the previous three seasons combined. When one factors in his three extra-point misses from 32 yards, his five missed kicks of 30-39 yards represent as many stumbles from that distance as he’d endured in the previous six combined regular seasons.
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