No question Gostkowski has missed some makeable field goals this year, most notably the one against the Cardinals that cost the Patriots the game.
Still he’s not that far off from where he’s been in the past, here’s his FG% for his career:
- 2006 – 76.9%
- 2007 – 87.5%
- 2008 – 90.0%
- 2009 – 83.9%
- 2010 – 76.9% (8 games, injured)
- 2011 – 84.6%
- 2012 – 80.0%
He’s already hit 13 field goals of 40+ yards which ties a career best from last season. So has he been a little off this year? Yup. Is it enough to really worry about headed into the post-season? Not yet.
The interesting thing is how much the Patriots needed Adam Vinatieri in the 2001 and 2003 Super Bowls runs, and the clutch kicks he had to make. Gostkowski has never had a kick the magnitude of those yet.
We’ll see what happens this year, but yeah, I might be a little more nervous than usual, especially given his clutch miss at home in September, not that that has any real impact.