Nick Folk is back. On Friday, the Patriots worked out the veteran kicker after one week away from the team and agreed to re-sign him (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The deal will be formally signed on Saturday. 
Folk missed last week due to an appendectomy, but he’s all healed up from the minor surgery and ready to retake the field. Kai Forbath was signed as a one-game replacement for Folk against the Texans, but received his pink slip earlier this week.
With the Pats, Folk has connected on 7-of-9 field goal tries and all three of his extra point attempts across three games. Two of those misses came last month against the Cowboys, but the Pats still came away with the 13-9 win, with Folk’s 42-yard connection in the fourth quarter helping to seal the deal.
In total, the Pats have used four kickers this season: Stephen Gostkowski, Mike Nugent, Folk, and Forbath. Even after Sunday’s loss to the Texans, they’re 10-2 on the year with yet another AFC East title all but sealed.
“they’re 10-2 on the year with yet another AFC East title all but sealed.”
Uh, what? They play the Chiefs this weekend and could very easily lose, and they play the Bills–who are 9-3–in a couple of weeks. The division is nowhere near ‘all but sealed’.
Bills fans. amirite!
I’m a Giants fan. Just don’t understand how you can call a division ‘all but sealed’ when they’re up one game with a head-to-head remaining.
Presumably because they still play the Dolphins and Bengals for 2/4 of the remaining games. Because they already beat the Bills once, they’re essentially 2 games up with 4 to go at the moment. And 3/4 are in Foxboro. So not locked up, but close. Bills have Ravens, Steelers and Pats left (and Jets), so Bills are unlikely to go 4-0 while the Pats lose 2 or 3. So again, while not done, odds look decent. That’s not taking anything away from a good Bills season, but they’ll likely be a good wild card team vice Division champs
“Because they already beat the Bills once, they’re essentially 2 games up”
No, they’re not. The Bills and Patriots play each other in two weeks. If the Bills win that, they’re in first place depending on whatever the tie-breaker is. The Pats do not need to lose ‘2 or 3’; they just need to lose one, the one against the Bills.
And again, they’re playing a very loseable game against the Chiefs on Sunday. I would not be super confident if I were them unless they win Sunday and the Bills lose.
If Buffalo was to win in NE and they finish off the season with the same record the Pats would still win because Cleveland beat Buffalo and the Pats beat Cleveland
I’m a pats fan and the dude is 100% right
There are still a few scenarios that could result in the Patriots missing the playoffs altogether.
Congrats on the patriots for winning a division that has the jets, dolphins, and bulls in it. All of those squads have been excellent the last 15 years.
Bulls haven’t been the same since Michael Jordan was their QB.
Bears fan here!
Never heard of a Bear in sheep’s clothing before.
Man, I’m certainly old enough to remember the days when an appendectomy wasn’t considered to be “minor surgery.” Kind of a mini miracle to me that the guy can kick a football well enough to play in the NFL a few days after having a body part removed.