The 2016 season has not seen the best of Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski.
Gostkowski went into last Sunday’s game against the Rams with four missed field goals in 20 tries and three missed extra points after making every regular season conversion attempt he’d tried since missing one during his rookie season. Gostkowski missed an extra point in last year’s AFC title game loss to the Broncos as well, which had some wondering if he’d lost some of his touch.
All was well last Sunday, however. Gostkowski bailed out a Patriots offense that struggled on third downs by making all four of his field goal attempts and hit both his extra point tries in a 26-10 victory. That made him the choice as the AFC special teams player of the week.
“Every week is a different challenge,” Gostkowski said, via CSNNE.com. “You just gotta battle. Keep your head down, stay humble, show up and control your attitude and your effort, make sure both of those are good, and have faith in the process that what you’ve been doing is going to continue to work.”
It’s the fifth time Gostkowski has earned the weekly honor, leaving him three back of his immediate predecessor Adam Vinatieri for the most in franchise history.