EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - The end of Sunday's game against the New York Giants was very hard for New England Patriots kicker Chad Ryland.
The rookie had a chance to tie the game up with seconds remaining, forcing overtime. Yet, he missed a 35-yard field goal, providing the Giants with the win.
After the game, reporters flocked over to Ryland, but instead A to Z Sports spoke with Patriots captain and core special teamer Matthew Slater. He had a clear message for Ryland.
"You got to move past it," Slater said. "We have a lot of confidence in Chad. He respects the game. He has great process. He's a great teammate, and thinks like that are gonna happen. And here's the reality: if he plays for a while in this league, there's going to be more situations like that come up."
And Slater also had an important message that many fans needed to hear.
"That game's not on him," he said. "We had 60 minutes to win the game and I think collectively we just didn't do enough."
Ryland took accountability after the game when asked about what happened. Yet, the pressure that is on a kicker in those moments is something that no one who is currently on the team can relate to.
And that includes Slater, which he openly admitted to.
"I've never been in that situation, but I gotta image that there's a tremendous amount of pressure and that's not an easy situation to be in. But if we had to go do it again, we have faith in him to go and execute and I believe that he would," Slater said. "So keep you head up. Keep moving forward."
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