Andrés “Andy” Borregales is celebrating a stellar, game-winning kick.
The 22-year-old Venezuelan professional American football kicker for the National Football League’s New England Patriots kicked a 52-yard game-winning field goal with 15 seconds remaining in the game on Sunday, October 5, to give the Patriots a 23-20 win over the previously undefeated Buffalo Bills.
The Patriots were tied with the reigning AFC East champion Bills. Drake Maye and Stefon Diggs had taken the offense as far as it would go. Mike Vrabel ran the clock down to 20 seconds and trusted Borregales, who is in his rookie season with the Patriots.
“Just treated it like any other kick,” Borregales said. “Went out there, trusted that the snap was going to get there, hold was going to be great, everyone’s going to block in front, and the ball goes in.”
In the process, Borregales overcame a rough start to the season. He had missed a field goal in the NFL season opener and a pair of extra points the following week against the Miami Dolphins.
He didn’t get any attempts against the Pittsburgh Steelers or Carolina Panthers, but he was a perfect 3-for-3 against Buffalo, including 30-yard and 19-yard field goals.
He’s now 7-for-8 on field-goal attempts this season.
“You can see when he’s building some confidence in his swing, it just looks good,” Vrabel said. “I don’t know much about kicking other that it just looks like a good drive, when those pros hit it right down the middle, and there’s some balance to it and some calmness.
“He’s been working hard, [assistant special teams coach] Tom [Quinn] and [special teams coordinator] Jeremy [Springer] have been working hard with him as well to maintain that consistency, that consistent swing. I’m excited. I’m happy for him.”
“It meant a lot,” Borregales said. “Obviously I’m a rookie, had my struggles in the beginning, but just having them come tap me on the shoulder, like, ‘Hey, don’t worry about it, on to the next one’ helped me remind myself that one kick doesn’t define me. Just keep moving on, because life doesn’t stop.”
It was one of those moments, as a road underdog with the game on the line in prime time, that can strike fear into the hearts of certain people.
“Some people can’t watch, some people can watch,” Borregales said. “I watched it halfway and saw it down the middle and got excited, started celebrating a little bit. Because at that point, I knew it was going in.”
After the game, in the locker room, Borregales’s teammates chanted his name. He smiled when asked about it at the podium.
“That was awesome. We take pride in building a brotherhood, a family,” Borregales said. “I treat every one of those guys in there as my brother, and I’ll die for them.”
Borregales, played college football for the University of Miami Hurricanes and was selected by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
