The New England Patriots cut Stephen Gostkowski Monday. The kicker spent 14 years with the Pats, taking over for Adam Vinatieri in 2006. For all intents, New England has had two kickers since 1996. Talk about stability. What was the NFL like in 1995, when Matt Bahr kicked for the Pats?
The Patriots’ coach was …
Bill Parcells ran the show for New England in 1995. The former coach of two Super Bowl champs with the New York Giants led New England to a 6-10 mark that season. The Patriots finished third in the AFC East
Matt Bahr kicked for New England
Matt Bahr came to New England for two-plus years at the end of his long career. The former Penn State kicker made 23-of-33 field goals and was perfect on 27 PATs.
Drew Bledsoe made 15 starts
The former No. 1 pick from Washington State was 6-9 as a starter for New England. He threw for 3,507 yards and had 13 TD passes against 16 interceptions. Scott Zolak absorbed the other loss.
Willie McGinest had 11 sacks
Willie McGinest had 11 of his career 78 sacks as a Patriots in 1995 to lead the team.
The AFC East consisted of …
The AFC and NFC consisted of three divisions in 1995. The Indianapolis Colts were in the AFC East, finishing second to the Buffalo Bills. The AFC Central had the Houston Oilers and Jacksonville Jaguars. The AFC West featured the Seattle Seahawks. In the NFC, the Arizona Cardinals were in the East, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Central and the New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons were in the West with the St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers,
Brett Favre was the MVP
The Packers went 11-5 and won the NFC Central. Brett Favre threw for 4,413 yards with 38 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions.
Emmitt Smith won the rushing title
The Dallas Cowboys’ Emmitt Smith was dazzling, rushing for 1,773 yards and scoring 25 touchdowns. Barry Sanders ran for 1,500 yards and was second. New England’s Curtis Martin finish third with 1,478 yards.
Herman Moore won the receiving title
The receiving title race was a slobberknocker. Herman Moore of the Detroit Lions caught 123 passes, including 10 in the final week of the season against Tampa Bay. Moore’s total was one better than Cris Carter and Jerry Rice.
Norm Johnson led kickers in points
The Seahawks’ Norm Johnson led the league’s kickers with 141 points. That total was second to Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys, overall. Smith scored 150 points. Jason Elam of the Broncos and Jason Hansen of the Lions were tied for second as kickers, finishing with 132 points.
The Eagles scored 58 points in a playoff game
The Detroit Lions met the Philadelphia Eagles in a Wild-Card game and managed to gain a 7-7 tie after falling behind. The Eagles ran off the next 44 points. Rodney Peete was 17-of-25 for 270 yards and a trio of touchdown passes. Don Majkowski came off the bench for the Lions and threw three TD passes in the second half and connected with Herman Moore for a two-point conversion.
Cowboys rallied to gain Super Bowl spot
The Dallas Cowboys trailed the Green Bay Packers, 27-24, in the fourth quarter of the NFC Championship. Emmitt Smith scored on two touchdown runs to give Dallas a 38-27 victory. Smith rushed 35 times for 150 yards and three touchdowns in the win.
Steelers edge Colts for Super Bowl slot
The Pittsburgh Steelers trailed the Indianapolis Colts in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship. Bam Morris took a handoff from Neil O’Donnell and scored from a yard out to make it 20-16, Pittsburgh. The touchdown sent Pittsburgh to the Super Bowl.
Larry Brown was the Super Bowl MVP
One of the more unlikely Super Bowl MVPs was Dallas’ Larry Brown. The defensive back picked off Neil O’Donnell twice and had returns of 44 and 33 yards as the Cowboys opened the Steelers, 27-17.
The Gostkowski years
Stephen Gostkowski was a fourth-round pick out of Memphis in the 2006 NFL Draft. Gostkowski was 374-for-428 on field goals (87.4%) with the Patriots, and 653-for-664 on point-after attempts (98%). That didn’t include the playoffs, where he was 31-for-36 on field goals and 79-for-83 on PATs for 1,775 points.
