Our offseason countdown continues with the No. 8 Best Patriots Moment of 2024.
Not much happening around New England Patriots Nation right now, and we’re still a week or two away from seriously turning our attention to the 2025 NFL Draft. So, this is a good week to bang out another moment on our offseason countdown of the Top 10 Patriots Moments of 2025:
The list so far:
10. Jerod Mayo out, Mike Vrabel in.
9. Drake Maye hits Austin Hooper for a 38-yard TD on 4th-and-15 against the Miami Dolphins.
I have a standing rule when it comes to these offseason countdowns: if you set a Patriots record, you automatically earn a spot on the list. So I’ll be honoring that today at Number 8.
8. Joey Slye nails a 63-yard field goal to close out the half against the San Francisco 49ers.
If you completely forgot that the Patriots even played the 49ers this season, I certainly don’t blame you; there’s almost nothing worth remembering from that game from a Patriots standpoint. Jacoby Brissett threw for 168 yards on 32 attempts with a touchdown, a pick, and a whopping six sacks. Rhamondre Stevenson rushed for 43 yards on 13 carries with a long of only 13 yards. The leading receiver on the day was Antonio Gibson with three catches for 67 yards, with 50 of those yards coming on one reception. David Andrews left the game with a shoulder injury, never to return.
San Francisco cruised to a 30-13 victory that dropped the Patriots to 1-3 on the year and started raising serious questions as to what the hell this team was doing.
The one bright spot from this debacle came just before halftime, courtesy of a weak 49rs punt from their own 8-yard line, returned 11 yards by Marcus Jones to the San Francisco 39. With the Patriots trailing 20-0 and set to kick off to start the third quarter, they desperately needed some point to even have a prayer of staying in this game. With 38 seconds left and one timeout, there was a decent chance of at least getting out of the second quarter with a field goal.
1st-and-10 quickly became 2nd-and-10 when Brissett threw one in the dirt in front of JaMycal Hasty. 2nd-and-10 quickly became 3rd-and-22 when Brissett was sacked for a 12-yard loss on the following play. Any hope of a touchdown was gone, and so on 3rd-and-22 the Patriots called an off-tackle run to Hasty to try and get some yards back. What started as 1st-and-10 on the SF 39 finished as 4th-and-16 from the SF 45. Four plays, negative six yards.
With only three seconds left in the half, the Patriots sent Joey Slye out to attempt a 63-yard field goal. Why not? If the 49ers blocked it and took it to the house, it wouldn’t make that much of a difference, and there was at least a shot of getting some points on the board. Slye had a pretty big leg and had made a 61-yarder just the year before as a member of the Washington Commanders. Not really much to lose at this point.
Slye hit a line drive right down the middle, barely clearing the goalposts and putting the Patriots on the board. With the kick, Slye beat Stephen Gostkowski’s record of a 62-yard field goal, which he hit against Oakland back in 2017. The kick wouldn’t have set the all-time record of 66 yards, held by Justin Tucker, but it was enough for this game. 49ers 20, Patriots 3.
Joey Slye would also make a 54-yard attempt early in the 4th quarter to make it a 27-13 game, but it didn’t matter; this game as a whole was a complete disaster. However, with Slye now gone to the Titans, I’m happy to show him some love on this list. He was a serviceable kicker who, at times was New England’s only offensive weapon. And with this 63-yard kick, he has earned himself a spot in Patriots history for the foreseeable future.
Check out the kick here. And if you’re in a good mood today and looking for something to immediately depress you, check out full game highlights here.