Pats' Graham would love to make winning kick

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The Patriots' championship years have often come down to clutch kicks, whether they were by Adam Vinatieri or Stephen Gostkowski. If that happens on Sunday, it will be Shayne Graham kicking for the Patriots. Yes, the same Shayne Graham who missed two field-goal attempts in Cincinnati last year, allowing the Jets to advance to the AFC Championship Game.

Graham, who was axed by the Bengals shortly after his two misses, was signed by the Patriots in November when Gostkowski was put on injured reserve. Since then he's converted all 12 of his field-goal attempts and had a perfect season. Now that it's the playoffs, Graham said he isn't thinking about his past. "Every kick is a new kick," he said. In fact, he's hoping that Sunday's game comes down to one of his kicks.

"Kickers always want that, no matter what," he said Wednesday. "Playoff games there's obviously a little bit more of a spotlight on it, but I think it's something that anyone at this level wants to have that kind of control over."

Bill Belichick said Graham's past success (in the regular season anyway) kicking in bad weather with the Bengals was a big part of the decision to sign him. And he does have the third-best kicking percentage in NFL history, 86.0 percent.

Graham said that when he goes on the field Sunday, he won't be thinking about his two misses in Cincinnati. In fact, it's been a while since he has.

"Obviously it wasn't something I enjoyed," he said, "but it was something I had to get over."