Paxton wasn't willing to take much credit. "I'm not the one who has to make the field goals," he said. "I just try to make sure I get it back there by firing a strike."
Gostkowski demurred.
"Having a smooth operation is one less thing you got to think about when you go out there to kick a field goal," he said. "And getting to work with them every day and having 100 percent confidence that [the snap] is going to be right where I want it, every time, definitely makes the chances of making a field goal go up immensely.
"You can tell if there's a bad snap or a bad hold in practice what that can do to a kick. It doesn't happen very often around here, but we all try to enjoy each other's successes as far as the three of us go, because we're always together."
In October, Gostkowski made 90 percent of his field goals, converting 9 of 10, and totaled 38 points to lead the Patriots. This season he has made 16 of 17 field goals (94.1 percent), including all 10 from under 40 yards. Twice during the month, at San Francisco and against the Rams, he made all three field goal attempts, which enabled the Patriots to win both games.
"He has kicked well for us all year, all the way through - kickoffs, hang time, field goals, height on the ball, accuracy - he is kicking the ball well," said coach Bill Belichick. "It's a good operation with Lonie and Chris, but obviously, he is hitting the ball well and he's had a real good year kicking off, too."
The Patriots will be counting on Gostkowski to put his best foot forward when they travel to Indianapolis to face the Colts tomorrow night at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indy's new 63,000-seat facility with a retractable roof that replaced the RCA Dome, which was truly a kicker's delight.
