Shanked

Foot.  Ball.  Fate.

The New England defense rose up when they needed to.  Vince Wilfork was the Incredible Hulk.  Brandon Spikes, known for his run defense, came up with an INT.  Sterling “Who?” Moore came up with a pass defended when it mattered most, in the end zone with just seconds remaining.  Maybe defense does win championships, after all. 

Kickers win football games sometimes, too.

Stephen Gostkowski authored the only points of the 1^st quarter, a 29-yard field goal.  It was a perfectly unremarkable moment as it occurred.  There was more than three quarters of football left and it was only 3-0, Patriots.  At the end of the game, it stood as the margin of victory.

Gostkowski was 3 for 3 on field goal attempts, with a long of 35 yards.  His counterpart, Billy Cundiff was 2 for 3 on his kicks, with a long of 39 and a miss of 32 with 11 seconds left in the game.  Over the season, Cundiff was quite reliable from 30-39, hitting 10 of 12 attempts, an 83% success rate.  But this was not one of the 10. 

Shanked.

Shocked.

See ya.