Thursday simply was not Nick Folk’s night.
The veteran kicker, formerly of the New York Jets, missed all three field goals he attempted in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 19-14 loss to the New England Patriots at Raymond James Stadium, continuing the Bucs’ unfortunate track record of poor place kicking.
Folk missed badly from 56 and 49 yards, then pulled an attempt from 31 yards out wide left. Here are all three of his misses, the last of which came with less than six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter:
Folk made the Buccaneers’ roster over Roberto Aguayo out of training camp, but he’s performed just as poorly as the second-round draft bust did in his one season in Tampa Bay.
In the last two games alone, Folk has missed five field goals and an extra point, though he did drill a game-winner to beat the New York Giants on Sunday. He took the blame for Thursday’s loss when speaking with reporters after the game.
Folk was a relatively reliable kicker during his seven years with the Jets. Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter clearly was expecting more of the same when the team brought the 32-year-old in this past offseason.
“It’s unfortunate because … he’s been really solid in practice, the thing that happened last week kind of came out of left field,” Koetter told reporters after the game, via NFL.com. “There was no real indication that was coming. We only kicked live in practice one day this week, and Nick was lights out.
“So again, these last two weeks haven’t been exactly what we’re looking for. Of course, Nick will be the first to admit that. But still, it’s a team game. We had other opportunities.”
Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski, who endured arguably the worst season of his career in 2016, was a perfect 4-for-4 on field goals Thursday night. He’s yet to miss a field goal in 12 attempts this season, though he did misfire on one extra point in Week 2.
Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images
