Blair Walsh sends words of encouragement to Stephen Gostkowski

A missed extra point by Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski in the first quarter of New England's AFC title game loss to the Broncos on Sunday ended up being a killer for the Patriots.

Did the Pats lose because of the missed PAT, Gostkowski's first snce his rookie season 10 years ago? No. Was it a factor in the loss? Yes.

After scoring with 12 seconds left in regulation to pull within 20-18, New England had to go for 2, but failed to convert.

After the game, Gostkowski heard from someone who recently went through his own nightmare of missing a big kick.

Vikings kicker Blair Walsh, who hooked a potential game-winning 27-yard field goal at the end of Minnesota's playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the first round, had this to say.

An error occurred while retrieving the Tweet. It might have been deleted.

Ironically, it was Patriots coach Bill Belichick who pushed for the extra point to be more difficult last offseason. Ouch.