Gostkowski’s miss proves big

DENVER — Tom Brady isn’t perfect. Stephen Gostkowski? He almost always is.

Brady made the best out of a less-than-ideal day; the single mistake Gostkowski made — missing his first extra point in nine years — played a big role in New England missing out on a trip to Super Bowl 50.

The Patriots’ reign as the NFL champions ended with a 20-18 loss to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.

“At the end, we just couldn’t make enough plays,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “Disappointing, disappointing result. There’s such a fine line today between winning and losing.”

The NFL wanted to spice things up by moving the extra point back this season. They certainly did at that.

With a chance to tie the game early, Gostkowski sent his extra point fluttering off to the right. This from a kicker who made an NFL-record 523 consecutive PATs. It put Brady and the offense in chase mode the rest of the way.

“I just feel terrible,” Gostkowski said. “All day, these guys put their bodies and lives on the line, and for me to come out here and miss a kick, it’s a nightmare scenario. I can’t even explain how I feel right now. It’s just a complete shock, and I let a lot of people down.”

Not that his teammates were blaming Gostkowski in a game where the Patriots turned the ball over twice on interceptions and two times on downs.

“You definitely shouldn’t put the heat on him. It’s a team game,” tight end Rob Gronkowski said. “You can’t put it on the hands of Steph. There’s no way.”

The Patriots had several strong drives in the fourth quarter end when they gave up the ball on downs. The Patriots drove to the Denver 16, only to be stopped on a fourth-and-1 when Julian Edelman was tackled short of the first-down marker after catching a floating pass.

Later, the Patriots faced fourth-and-6 at the Denver 14-yard line, but Brady missed Gronkowski over the middle.

Asked why he eschewed field goals, Belichick simply said: “Because of the scoring situation in the game. “There were a lot of plays in the game, a lot of big plays.

“We had a chance at the end.”