Yes, the punting has been atrocious for the New England Patriots this season. But has it been the worst in the NFL?
A recent statistic from Puntalytics suggests that might be the case.
Both of the Patriots’ punters, Jake Bailey and Michael Palardy, are ranked dead last in punter EPA for 2022. Granted, no one needed an advanced statistic to know just how horrendous the punting has been this season. A simple eye test has been enough to make diehard Patriots fans bang their heads against the wall.
Yet, in a graph that featured NFL punters with at least 17 punts this season, both Bailey and Palardy ranked dead last in the league.
Ouch.
We have a little bit of a shake up at the top of the leaderboard with #browns Corey Bojorquez sliding into the top 3 with one week to go.
If the season ended today it would be a tough decision between Stonehouse and Townsend for 1st team Puntalytics all-pro pic.twitter.com/v4KdsZjn7w
— Puntalytics (@ThePuntRunts) January 4, 2023
Bailey’s season officially ended on Friday after missing his return window from injured reserve. He has been hampered with a back injury throughout most of the season, which resulted in the team turning to Palardy.
Granted, Bailey had already been struggling up until the point of his exit. So the hope was that Palardy could step in and give the team a noticeable boost at the position, but that clearly hasn’t happened.
To make matters worse, the Patriots made Bailey one of the league’s top-three highest-paid punters back in August. So seeing him ranked second-to-last behind Palardy in this statistic is disappointing, to say the least.
Of course, one bad season shouldn’t close the book on Bailey’s journey in New England. There’s still hope he comes back healthier and turns things around in 2023. The Patriots would have never forked over a four-year, $13.5 million contract and a fifth-round draft pick if they didn’t believe in his talent.
