Few NFL coaches place a greater emphasis on special teams than Bill Belichick. It’s not surprising, then, that some of the most memorable plays of Belichick’s tenure as Patriots head coach came in the kicking game.
Here, we’re spotlighting nine of the greatest such plays. This isn’t meant to be an exhaustive recounting, and there were some notable moments that didn’t make the cut, including Brenden Schooler’s sensational blocked field goal, Julian Edelman’s four punt-return touchdowns and Belichick’s bold decision to take an intentional safety against Denver back in 2003.
But we tried to cover all of the heavy hitters. Here they are, presented in chronological order:
Adam Vinatieri’s Snow Bowl kick
Was Vinatieri’s 45-yard game-tying field goal through a blizzard the greatest kick in NFL history? We’d say so. So would Bill Belichick. Vinatieri hit another from 23 yards in overtime to give the Patriots the iconic victory that launched the Tom Brady era.
The 2001 AFC Championship Game
The Patriots’ upset win at Pittsburgh featured a pair of pivotal plays in the kicking game, so we’re lumping them together here. New England opened the scoring with a 55-yard Troy Brown punt-return touchdown, then scored what proved to be the deciding points on a third-quarter field goal that was blocked by Brandon Mitchell, scooped up by Brown and then lateraled to Antwan Harris for a touchdown. The Patriots wouldn’t score again on special teams in the playoffs until the 2016 divisional round, when Dion Lewis returned a kickoff for six against the Houston Texans.
Vinatieri’s Super Bowl clinchers
Can’t leave out the kicks that gave New England its first two championships. Vinatieri hit from 48 yards out to beat the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI and from 41 to sink the Carolina Panthers two years later, cementing his status as a Patriots legend and one of the most clutch kickers in NFL history.
Doug Flutie’s drop kick
In terms of stakes, this doesn’t come close to measuring up to the aforementioned postseason heroics. It happened in a meaningless Week 17 game that the Patriots didn’t even win. But you’ll never see a bigger in-game Belichick smile than the one he wore after Flutie, the 43-year-old local legend, booted the first successful drop kick in the NFL since 1941.
Dan Connolly’s almost touchdown
Connolly came oh-so-close to scoring what would have been one of unlikeliest touchdowns in NFL history. Facing the Packers on “Sunday Night Football,” the offensive lineman scooped up a Green Bay kickoff and rumbled for 71 yards before finally being dragged down inside the 10-yard line. Connolly started two Super Bowls and won one, but this easily was the highlight of the big man’s NFL career.
Jamie Collins’ leaping field-goal block
You know a play is impactful when the NFL later introduces a rule outlawing it. That’s what happened a few years after Collins — one of the best pound-for-pound athletes ever to come through New England — effortlessly vaulted over the Indianapolis Colts’ long snapper to block an extra point in a 2015 Patriots win. Shea McClellin pulled off the same move the following season before the league banned it.
Marcus Jones calls game
Jones’ emergence as a three-phase star was one of the bright spots in New England’s frustrating and forgettable 2022 season. The rookie All-Pro’s crowning achievement came in Week 11, when he returned a punt 84 yards for a touchdown in the closing seconds to carry the Patriots to a 10-3 win over the rival New York Jets. It was the first game in over a decade to feature a go-ahead punt-return TD in the final minute. Longtime special teams captain Matthew Slater said after the game that he’d “never been a part of anything like that in (his) life.”
