The New England Patriots’ game against the Arizona Cardinals will be a reunion between Joey Slye and Chad Ryland. The two kickers will compete against each other for the first time since training camp, when both were with the Patriots and looking to win a job that ultimately went to Slye.
At the time, Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo called the decision a “very easy” one to make based purely on the numbers posted by the two kickers.
“Chad competed, Slye competed. I think it was clear, at least to me, that Slye had a better camp,” Mayo explained after Ryland was released in late August.
“It’s very easy with kickers. It’s a lot easier with kickers than it is offensive linemen. It’s like, ‘Alright, 95 percent, 88 percent.’ So, it was very easy in that regard.”
Three-and-a-half months after the Patriots went with Slye over Ryland, they are now set to cross paths again. And as a look at those very numbers mentioned by Mayo shows, the regular season has gone differently than was probably expected by him and his staff:
Kicker comparison: Joey Slye vs. Chad Ryland
| Kicker | Games | FGA | FGM | FG % | XPA | XPM | XP % | Combined % | Blocks | KO | TB | TB % | KOR average | Penalties |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joey Slye | 13 | 28 | 22 | 78.6% | 18 | 17 | 94.4% | 84.8% | 2 | 54 | 38 | 70.4% | 25.5 | 1 |
| Chad Ryland | 9 | 23 | 19 | 82.6% | 15 | 15 | 100.0% | 89.5% | 1 | 42 | 36 | 85.7% | 29.0 | 0 |
Based purely on the statistics as presented here, Ryland has had the better 2024 season than Slye. Does that mean the decision made in late August was a wrong one, though? That is where things get a bit more complicated.
For starters, Slye beating out Ryland was the result of their head-to-head competition in training camp and preseason. While the preseason numbers would have favored Ryland, who made all five of his kicks versus Slye going only 3-of-5, the overall body of work spoke a clear language in the other direction: Slye was a lot more consistent throughout the summer than the incumbent.
Paired with what Ryland had shown during his 2023 rookie season, when he had the lowest field goal success rate in the NFL at 64 percent, made it fairly obvious who would be New England’s kicker in 2024. As a consequence, the former fourth-round draft pick was on his way out the door — allowing him to eventually join the Cardinals in October.
Since arriving in Arizona as an injury replacement for Matt Prater, Ryland has looked significantly better than his rookie season. He also has looked better than Slye on paper, although the numbers do not necessarily tell the whole story.
For starters, the Patriots’ current kicker had more of his attempts blocked (2) than his Cardinals counterpart (1). Furthermore, Slye has played outdoors a lot more than Ryland this year: all 13 of his games have come in the elements compared to only four of Ryland’s nine.
In addition, New England has been more aggressive when it comes to sending out the field goal team. Whereas 8.7 percent of Ryland’s kicks have come from beyond 50 yards out that number shoots up to 21.4 percent for Slye.
Whether or not the team would have used Ryland in the same fashion, or if he even would have been able to duplicate his current success in New England, is pure speculation. Considering that — and even though the reasoning presented by Mayo at the time was maybe overly simplistic — the Patriots going with the hot hand coming out of training camp is not a decision they should be scrutinized for.
