Patriots kicker Joey Slye not pleased despite record-breaking performance against 49ers

The New England Patriots have few memorable scoring plays so far this season. Frankly, they have few scoring plays in general this season.

Sunday's 30-13 loss against the San Francisco 49ers was more of the same in that regard: all the team mustered was a solitary touchdown plus a pair of field goals. One of those kicks, however, was worthy of making a highlight reel.

At the end of the first half, Joey Slye split the uprights from 63 yards out. The kick went into the Patriots' books as the longest in franchise history, and one of the best plays of their 2024 season so far period.

Nonetheless, Slye was not pleased with how his day overall went.

"There was some individual success there, which obviously I'm happy for for myself," he explained after the game. "But for team success, I'm trying to do the best for the team to give them an opportunity to win. So, if it's not coming out to a win at the end of the day, my individual success really isn't that important to me."

A former undrafted free agent out of Virginia Tech in 2018, Slye had to wait more than a year to sign his first NFL contract. And even then, he quickly found out that stability was not part of the deal: he spent time with five different teams over his first five years in the league, including the 49ers back in 2021.

While Slye did see semi-regular opportunities and appeared in 78 games between 2019 and 2023, he failed to find a permanent home. His 2024 season was no different; he initially started out in Jacksonville before getting cut and joining the Patriots in early May.

In New England, stability was also no guarantee. In fact, Slye had to beat out incumbent Chad Ryland to earn the Patriots' kicking job — something he did with a solid showing in training camp and preseason.

Head coach Jerod Mayo later claimed that the decision to pick the veteran over the youngster was not a hard one to make. Four games into the season, and especially coming off his performance in San Francisco on Sunday, it is easy to see why the club might have felt that way.

"They know my line, plus/minus a couple of yards. Obviously, I've shown them that I have an ability to hit that distance," Slye said about his pre-kick mindset before his career-best 63-yard field goal.

"At the end of the day, I'm just kind of looking at the sideline, seeing if Mayo's going to give the field goal signal or keep the offense on the field, whatever it might be. At that point, we're trying to get points on the board going into the half with some momentum and a little bit of energy. Obviously, I was glad to provide the opportunity I was presented with."

In addition to his 63-yarder, Slye also made a kick from 54 yards out. In total, he is now 8-for-9 on field goals and 3-for-3 on extra points on the year.