Ryland revealed the Pats special teams captain Matthew Slater, who missed his first game since 2017 due to a new hamstring injury, said mid-game the team would need him in the fourth quarter. The Patriots led 23-7 at the start of the fourth, but faced a tied score when the offense took over with less than a minute remaining.
Were it not for their rookie kicker, the Patriots might have pulled away with a comfortable win Sunday.
But if not for that same kicker, the Pats don’t win at all in Denver.
Ryland drilled a game-winning, 56-yard field goal down the middle to cap a thrilling 26-23 upset of the Broncos on Christmas Eve. Ryland’s final make followed earlier misses on a 47-yarder and an extra point. The rookie entered Sunday with the lowest field goal percentage of any starting kicker in the league and has now missed a field goal in four straight games with at least one attempt.
But, he nailed his biggest kick of the season Sunday; hard-earned redemption that was not lost on the 24-year-old post-game.
