Chad Ryland changes the narrative with clutch kick in Denver

BOSTON -- Be honest: When Chad Ryland stepped onto the field to attempt a 56-yard field goal to win the game on Sunday night, how much confidence did you have in the rookie?

Considering he had missed a field goal earlier in the game, and considering he had missed a PAT earlier in the game, and considering his rookie season has been trending downward for the past two months, there weren't many folks who believed the kick had much of a chance of even flirting with the uprights.

And what followed? Sure enough, it was the perfect kick.

The 56-yarder was the longest kick of Ryland's young career, and it was certainly the biggest. And it worked to completely change the narrative on him coming out of this game in Denver.

Had he missed the 56-yarder, it would have hardly registered, as a 56-yarder in late December is a tough job, no matter what the location maybe. The story, though, would have been yet another miss.

Earlier in the game, Ryland missed a 47-yard field goal that never had a chance, missing so wide to the right side that the kick didn't even hit the net. An NFL Network replay showed Bill Belichick react to that miss with an expletive.

The miss Ryland's eighth of the year, and his fourth in the 40-49-yard range. The issue was multiplied when Ryland clanked his PAT attempt off the left upright when the Patriots scored a touchdown early in the third quarter.

Clearly, there's still a problem there for Ryland, whom the Patriots traded up to select in the fourth round of this year's draft. But a 56-yard game-winner can go a long way to fix a lot of issues for a young kicker struggling to find his confidence.