In the immediate aftermath of a sloppy win over an inferior divisional opponent, Mike Vrabel lamented the kind of bad football he vowed to eliminate as head coach of the New England Patriots.
“Fortunate, whatever,” he told Karen Guregian of MassLive. “We just didn't play very well. We tried to beat ourselves, but we made enough plays in critical situations to help us get through here today.”
The next morning, during his weekly appearance on WEEI-FM radio, Vrabel called his team’s 13 giveaways in six games “an embarrassment.”
One thing Vrabel hasn’t been asked about much is young kicker Andy Borregales, whose shaky play this season has quietly become a talking point among fans.
Andy Borregales this Season:
— Boston Buzzer (@TheBostonBuzzer) October 20, 2026
Field Goals: 8/10
Extra Points: 14/15
Do you still have a lot of trust in him?? pic.twitter.com/QRenWh6KBD
Borregales’ stats are fine on paper. He’s made 80% of his field goal attempts and 93% of his extra points this season.
But can the head coach trust him? That’s a question well worth exploring as the Patriots prepare for a Thursday night showdown with the Chicago Bears.
Andy Borregales has quietly disappeared from the Patriots' winning formula
The Patriots’ current three-game winning streak has been fueled by the resurgent play of quarterback Drake Maye, who ever since the second half against Buffalo in Week 4 has been arguably the most efficient quarterback in football.
The streak has also included next to nothing from Borregales, at least nothing notable.
Borregales went consecutive games with missed kicks, a 47-yarder in the third quarter against Pittsburgh, and a brutal 38-yarder at the start of the second half against Jacksonville, a game where the Patriots desperately needed some points and positive momentum.
“You have to be also prepared to compete and take advantage of the opportunities, not miss kicks, score touchdowns in the red zone, get red zone stops,” Vrabel said after the Jaguars loss. “It just was everything. So, starts with me. I'll have them better prepared. I'm going to commit to improving this football team and the guys that we have here.”
In the three games since that debacle in Jacksonville (the Patriots lost 35-6), Borregales has almost been completely erased from the box score. He attempted three total field goals against the Bills, Raiders, and Jets, but none by a longer distance than a modern-day extra point.
In fact, Borregales missed an extra point in the fourth quarter of the Jets game. The kick would have given the Patriots an 11-point lead. Instead, the Jets were able to stay within 10 points, 23-13, with 14:10 remaining.
The miss didn’t end up costing New England, and Vrabel didn’t mention it during his postgame presser.
But did it add to his grumpy mood? How could it not?
Mike Vrabel's growing fourth-down aggression is getting harder to dismiss
The other variable that’s becoming impossible to ignore is the Patriots’ rising fourth-down rate.
They’re currently tied for fourth in the NFL in fourth-down conversions per game with the Bears and relentless head coach Ben Johnson. On the season, the Patriots are converting fourth downs at an 80% clip, which is second only to the Minnesota Vikings, who are 3-for-3 on the season.
Since the Bills game, the Patriots have gone for it on fourth down nine times. Four of those attempts came inside field goal range for Borregales, who made a 59-yard kick against Miami in 2025. Borregales’ only field goal tries over that three-game span have come from 28, 32, and 22 yards out.
Over the last three weeks, the Patriots are tied for first in the NFL with the Lions and Colts in terms of fourth-down aggression. In 2025, New England ranked 20th in total fourth-down attempts.
It’s possible the Patriots went into Buffalo with an aggressive mindset, started cooking on offense, and have decided to ride that hot hand against the Raiders and Jets. It’s also possible that Vrabel trusts his quarterback’s mental toughness and maturity more than his 23-year-old kicker right now.
The Patriots don't have a kicker crisis yet (but that could change quickly)
This is more of a developing storyline than a real crisis point in Foxboro.
Veteran kickers like Justin Tucker, Zane Gonzalez, Brandon McManus, Matt Prater, and Jake Moody have worked out for teams this week. Moody was brought in by the Baltimore Ravens after starter Tyler Loop — a sixth-round draft pick in 2025, just like Borregales — missed a kick during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 13-10 loss to Cleveland.
Playing on a short week, it wasn’t very realistic for the Patriots to add a kicker to the practice squad on Monday. But with a 10-day break looming between games, that mindset could change if Borregales has another shaky outing in a big prime-time spot in Chicago.
Borregales is an average NFL kicker at best. Based on KPA, the advanced efficiency metric created by FanSided’s Adam Fromal, Borregales ranks 29th in football, grouped with aging veterans like the 41-year-old Nick Folk, the 32-year-old Wil Lutz, and undrafted rookie Drew Stevens.
Borregales wasn’t special last year, when he struggled to fight off journeyman John Parker Romo during the preseason. He made a big kick in the snow during last year’s AFC Championship Game in Denver, but it was from 23 yards out, and he also missed two kicks in that game.
He certainly hasn’t been special to start this season, with at least one missed field goal or extra point in half of the Patriots games. For now, all Patriots fans can do is hold their breath whenever Maye comes off the field and Borregales lines up for a kick — especially a big one, which is a situation that hasn't really come up yet this season.
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