Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski blamed himself after today’s 20-18 loss to the Broncos, saying his missed extra point early in the game came back to haunt his team.
“I feel like I lost the game. I feel sorry for myself, but I don’t expect people to feel sorry for me,” Gostkowski said, via Michael Whitmer of the Boston Globe.
No football game is ever won or lost entirely on one play, but it certainly was costly for the Patriots: If Gostkowski had made that extra point, New England only would have needed him to make another extra point at the end of the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime. Instead, the Patriots had no choice but to go for two, and they failed to convert.
The miss was Gostkowski’s first missed extra point since he was a rookie in 2006. The miss snapped an incredible streak of 523 consecutive extra points Gostkowski has made. He’s not the only reason the Patriots lost the game, but he sure did miss at an inopportune time.