New England Patriots: 6 bold predictions for 2015

Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

2. Stephen Gostkowski will be perfect in 2015

Arguably the best kicker in football, Gostkowski had his best season as a pro last year. He drilled 35 of the 37 field goals he attempted, good for a 94.6 percent success rate.

In case you didn’t hear about it, the most noteworthy rule change of the offseason was the moving of the extra point from the two-yard line back to the 15-yard line. This makes what is usually a yawn-inducing part of a football game a bit more exciting, as a 33-yard field goal is no easy task.

When it comes to kicks between 30 and 39 yards, Gostkowski has nailed 87 of his 97 career attempts. The point here is that Gostkowski will rise to the challenge of kicking these extra points (you’ll read more about the Patriots’ point-after strategy in the next slide).

The NFL is about due for a perfect kicking season. Adam Vinatieri was painfully close last year, but he missed a kick in the regular season finale. Only three kickers in NFL history have successfully made every extra point and every field goal they have attempted: Gary Anderson in 1998, Jeff Wilkins in 2000 and Mike Vanderjagt in 2003.

If anyone can do it, it’s Gostkowski. The Memphis product has done so well during his tenure with the Pats that he’s actually been a better kicker than Vinatieri was in New England. If you set aside Vinatieri’s Super Bowl heroics, you’ll see that Gostkowski has an 86.8 percent success rate, while Vinatieri made 81.9 percent of his field goals with the Patriots.

Next: 1. Pats will have best 2-point success rate