As the old saying goes, the fifth time’s the charm. Or something like that.
After missing three field goals and an extra point in the mile-high air in Denver, one of the most forgiving places to kick in the NFL, former Patriot Stephen Gostkowski nailed a go-ahead field goal that gave the Tennessee Titans a 16-14 win over the Broncos on Monday Night Football.
The game was the first time 36-year-old Gostkowski, who spent 14 seasons in New England and won three Super Bowl rings, ever missed four kicks.
After escaping with the win, Titans coach Mike Vrabel, an ex-teammate of Gostkowski’s with the Patriots, said he had no second thoughts about sending his kicker out for another try to get the win over the Broncos.
“Nope, and they did, obviously, because they weren’t using their timeouts and they were banking on him missing,” Vrabel said. “We’ve all got to do our job. And again, it’s not on just one player. We’ll get this stuff fixed. We’ve got a lot of faith in our players. Excited to get out of here with a win. This is a tough place to play.”
While Vrabel’s comments did not indicate the team will think about cutting bait with Gostkowski, calls for the team to release him were rampant on social media:
Even if he survives today, Gostkowski is on thin ice going forward, as the Titans had the worst field goal unit in the NFL last year, with their first four kickers combining to connect on only 44.4 percent of their field-goal attempts (8-for-18).
In Monday night’s other game, Ben Roethlisberger made his first start since having elbow surgery following Week 2 of last year and threw for three scores as the Pittsburgh Steelers rolled the New York Giants 26-16 at MetLife Stadium.
New York’s best player, running back Saquon Barkley, was held to six yards on 15 carries in the Monday night matchup.
Darius Slayton had a pair of TD catches for the Giants, while JuJu Smith-Schuster had two touchdown grabs of his own for the Steelers.
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