Super Bowl 49 from A to Z
By Will Osgood
F
Foot Ball, Literally
It is not uncommon for big games to come down to has the ball last, especially Super Bowls in the last decade and a half. Of course, the Patriots’ dynastic run began in New Orleans in 2002 (2001 season) when Adam Vinatieri booted a 48-yard field goal as time expired to shock the nation in defeating “the greatest show on turf” St. Louis Rams.
The kickers in this game are quite good themselves. In one corner, you have the 6’2″, 2oo pound Baton Rouge native, Stephen Gostkowski kicking for the Patriots. In the other is Steven Hauschka, a Massachusetts native who kicked in college at North Carolina State.
Beyond having phoneme first names, both are in the 30-years of age range (Gostkowski born in January, 1984; Hauschka in June, 1985).
Hauschka kicked field goals at an 83.8 percent clip this season, while Gostkowski missed only two kicks, good for a 94.6 percent success rate. Hauschka is nine of 17 on field goals of 50-plus yards for his career, while Gostkowski is 13 of 17.
The numbers seem to point to Gostkowski being the better kicker, and he probably is, but both are solid kickers who deserve the confidence of their head coaches should this game come down to kicking a field goal.
Next: Glendale is large, but not the beast that the Pats' TE is