The NFL’s fifth weekend was a bad one for place kickers with a total of 27 kicking attempts not making it through the uprights: 14 field goal tries were unsuccessful, as were 13 point-after kicks. The New England Patriots’ Nick Folk was also not immune, missing an extra point in the first quarter against the Houston Texans.
From that point on, however, Folk was lights out. Not only did he hit his second PAT, he also went 4-for-4 on field goals: he connected on a pair of 52-yarders, a 32-yard kick, and the eventual game-winner from 21 yards away with a mere seconds left on the clock.
As a result of his impressive performance, Folk has now been named the AFC’s Special Teams Player of the Week.
The award is the seventh of its kind earned by the 36-year-old in his career. Last season, in his first full year as the Patriots’ kicker, Folk was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week on two occasions: following Weeks 9 and 12 versus the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals, respectively.
Against the Texans, Folk again showcased his consistency, accuracy and range. He also displayed his mental toughness after missing a point-after attempt earlier in the game — a miss that came on the heels of an unsuccessful 56-yard field goal that would have lifted the Patriots past the Tampa Bay Buccaneers one week earlier.
“You’re only as good as your next kick,” the veteran said after the game. “So, you just have to worry about the next one. That last one didn’t matter [after] last week, it was over. Picked the corrections from it, fixed some stuff there. Your most important one’s the next one.”
Folk is the first member of the Patriots to be named a Player of the Week this season.
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