New England Patriots - NESN.com
The New England Patriots received a huge assist from a familiar face in Sunday’s Week 9 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
New England overcame a sloppy second half to salvage a 24-23 victory over Atlanta at Gillette Stadium. During the fourth quarter, the Falcons looked poised to erase what was once a 14-point deficit.
Down 24-17, Michael Penix Jr. culminated a 12-play drive with his third touchdown pass of the day to Drake London. Before Atlanta could even the score, Parker Romo missed the extra point.
Romo spent the summer competing with Andy Borregales for New England’s starting kicker job. The Patriots kept the rookie and cut Romo, who joined the Falcons and replaced Younghoe Koo after the veteran missed a potential game-tying field goal in Week 1.
Perhaps the Patriots second-guessed their choice when Romo made a 54-yard field goal in his Falcons debut. Meanwhile, Borregales missed a field goal in Week 1 and two extra points in Week 2.
Borregales has converted all nine field goals and 22 extra points in New England’s last seven games, draining a 32-yard field goal and three point-after tries on Sunday. Romo has missed three field goals this season, but he was 12-for-12 on extra points before the fatal fourth-quarter blunder.
The Falcons still had five minutes to let Romo off the hook, and the defense did its part by quickly forcing a three-and-out. But Atlanta punted near the two-minute mark instead of trying a 4th-and-20, and New England ran out the clock after Drake Maye completed a 17-yard pass to Hunter Henry on third down.
Rather than getting revenge on the team that released him, Romo helped the Patriots improve to 7-2 with their sixth straight win. They’ll go on the road to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 10.
