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Socci's Notebook: Despite Recent Struggles, Patriots Have Faith In Gostkowski

By Bob Socci, 98.5 The Sports Hub

BOSTON (CBS) – Along with the reappearance last weekend of a familiar sight on fall Sundays in New England, as Tom Brady made a triumphant return to Gillette Stadium, we got a glimpse of something unseen in Foxboro for more than a decade.

After Brady's third-quarter, four-yard touchdown pass to James White put the Patriots ahead of Cincinnati, 25-14, longtime teammate Stephen Gostkowski pulled his extra-point attempt wide of the left upright. It marked the first time a New England kicker failed to convert a home PAT since the 2005 opener, when Oakland blocked Adam Vinatieri's follow-up to a Cory Dillon score.

The miss was also Gostkowski's second since the NFL elected to increase the difficulty of what used to be forgone conclusions with last season's rule change requiring kickers to convert PAT's from 33 yards away. His first was in January's AFC Championship at Denver, where a slice right shockingly severed a string of 523 straight conversions.

Since the only other instance in which Gostkowski erred on an extra-point as a rookie in 2006, he's become both the leading scorer and most accurate kicker in New England annals. But with this latest miss, as well as three errant field-goal attempts in the wake of his Mile-high mishit 10 months ago, Gostkowski's first six games of 2016 have been a relative struggle.

He's a four-time Pro Bowler who's delivered for a decade with robotic regularity, as if programmed to automatically punch the ball through the goal post. Yet despite uncharacteristic inconsistency from that facet this season, Gostkowski's remained a remarkable asset in another aspect of his role. His precision on kickoffs has helped the Pats to repeatedly pin opponents deep.

Nevertheless, while remaining an accountable and visible presence in the Patriots' locker room, Gostkowski himself recently told the Boston Herald that his kicks are coming up short of his high standards.

The only way to get them there is to swinging away; which is what his head coach and teammates fully expect Gostkowski to do.

"Stephen's one of our hardest working players and I'd say one of the most respected players on the team because of the way he does work and how team-oriented he is," Bill Belichick said two weeks ago, the morning after Gostkowski failed to connect on a 50-yard try at Cleveland.

"I just know his character, and who he is as a competitor and an athlete," says Gostkowski's holder, Ryan Allen.  "He does a very good job of coming in each day, each week and sticking to what he holds true to himself. As far as the way he approaches each day and works, there's a reason why he's been so good for so long."

Stephen Gostkowski
Stephen Gostkowski (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

As a punter, Allen relies on repeating his kicking motion the same way a good golfer replicates his swing and a successful baseball pitcher duplicates his delivery.  Punt after punt.  Shot after shot.  Pitch after pitch.  The mechanics of each position require constant maintenance.  And the slightest variation from one rep to the next can significantly affect the effectiveness of each.

The same goes for Gostkowski, who just happens to be an avid golfer and a former college baseball pitcher.  Right now as a NFL placekicker, he is a right-footer barely missing his spots.

"You can be very technical with what we do. There can be some small, fine thing that feels off, or looks off," Allen explained. "Not everything is going to go perfect.

"It's hard too when you only get six plays. It's hard not to overanalyze or be overly critical of yourself or your technique, whatever. There are some games where I'll have three (punts) and there's one I want back. I feel like, technically, I'm 2-for-3 and it actually leaves a feeling like, 'Shoot, I didn't do well.'  You've got to keep a level head, you can't get too high or too low. And that's one thing I've actually learned from (Stephen). You've got to move on."

Occasional conversations over the last few years convey a similar sense about Gostkowski.  Just as he's physically belied widely-expressed stereotypes of kickers -- working out regularly, for example, with teammates in the weight room -- Gostkowski seems the antithesis of certain other specialists who eventually psyched themselves out of the league.

Last July TheMMQB.com posted a three-part series on the fragility of the position. In it, ex-Charger Nate Kaeding came across as someone who lined up in fear of the miss instead of being sure of a make.

"When you're out there as a kicker, at least for me—I have a real active brain—there's a lot of weird s--- that goes through your head," Kaeding told reporter Dylan Howlett. "Not a whole lot of it overly positive."

What enters Gostkowski's mind, he told us following his last second, 54-yard field goal to beat the Giants last year in the Meadowlands, is a tune; thereby keeping the tone positive.

"I look forward to the opportunity," Gostkowski said.  "I think if you're shying away from the opportunity, you have a good chance of going out there and second-guessing yourself.  I sing a song in my head."

Through the first six weeks of 2016, there have been some sour notes. They are more than we've become accustomed to in recent seasons, though not entirely unprecedented.

Ten years ago, Gostkowski was drafted out of the University of Memphis to succeed Adam Vinatieri.  Cast in the shadow -- and specter -- of a multi-Super Bowl hero, he missed six field goal attempts, including three inside of 40 yards. Thinking for a moment like Kaeding, imagine the weird you-know-what that could have been going through a then 22-year-old Gostkowski's mind.

Rather than succumb to such circumstances, he found his form, sung his song over and over, and kicked his way to 1,373 career points; more than Vinatieri, Gino Cappelletti and every other player in franchise history.

Today in Pittsburgh, Gostkowski vies to increase that total. And though conditions can be unforgiving here at the confluence of the Three Rivers, don't be surprised if he stirs winds of change to blow his kicks back on course. His teammates won't be.

"He's been doing this for a long time at a very high level," special teams captain Matthew Slater said on Wednesday. "If you play football long enough, there are going to be ups and downs. I know we're accustomed to around here, just in general with the Patriots, (to) there being more ups than down. But that's part of football.  With Stephen, I don't need to give him a big pep talk or anything like that.  I know that he'll be OK."

"He's a class act," Allen added a day later.  "We've got all the faith in him."

Bob Socci is the radio play-by-play voice of the New England Patriots. You can follow him on Twitter @BobSocci.

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