Stephen Gostkowski, Tom Brady step up in unfamiliar roles

When punter Ryan Allen was forced out of last night's game, it put the Patriots in an unusual position. Not only is Allen the only punter on the roster, but he's also been the holder all year on the all important field goal unit.

As a result the Patriots were forced to put some familiar faces in unfamiliar roles. Meet Stephen Gostkowski, punter and Tom Brady, holder.

Did they acquit themselves well? Of course they did! This is the Patriots. You think Bill Belichick doesn't have his team prepared for a sudden punter injury? How naive of you!

Belichick says Gostkowski punts in practice. It was obvious.
— Doug Kyed (@DougKyedNESN) January 12, 2014

As a kicker, Gostkowski has a lot of free time in practice. Clearly his punting work has paid off, as his first punt was a booming 53 yarder that pinned the Colts down at 16. His next attempt wasn't quite as good, traveling only 35 yards to set the Colts up at the 37. However, Gostkowski responded well, following up a 43 yarder (which was fair caught) and a 52 yarder that pinned Indy at the 12. His final attempt was a pooch punt that sailed juust too far into the end zone for a touchback.

“I guess all those years of screwing around in practice paid off” Gostkowski joked after the game.

As for Brady, lets just say it had been a long time.

“I think it was when I played in the Orange Bowl 14 or 15 years ago. I don't even do it in practice. They said, ‘Get in there and do it,’ and I said, ‘What do I say?’ But we figured it out.”

They figured it out indeed, as the field goal operation was pulled off without a hitch on two extra points with Brady as the holder. They did balk at attempting a 43 yarder late in the game, instead sending out Gostkowski to pooch punt.

While Pats nation may be wondering about the whereabouts of Zoltan Mesko this week, the most interesting punter in the world is under contract with the Bengals. Unless Cincinnati grants Mesko his wish for a release (after all, he did say pleeeeeease), the Patriots could be looking to sign one of Shawn Powell or Robert Malone, two free agent punters who worked out for the team during the season.