Kicker, punter earn praise for their feats

FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots coach Bill Belichick gave a thumbs-up to the team's kicking game in Sunday's 17-13 victory over the Chicago Bears.

Belichick said he was pleased with the play of rookie kicker Stephen Gostkowski, who squeaked through a career-long 52-yard field goal, and retread punter Ken Walter, who averaged 37.3 net yards in three attempts and kept the dangerous Devin Hester idle, forcing the Bears rookie to make two fair catches and putting his other punt out of bounds.

"I thought that Kenny did a real good job of putting the ball up there and forcing those fair catches and keeping them out of their return game," said Belichick.

Gostkowski originally missed the 52-yard attempt just before halftime, wide right. He got a reprieve, however, because Chicago coach Lovie Smith had signaled for a timeout. Given a second chance, with one second left on the clock, he connected, clearing the crossbar with little room to spare to give New England a 10-3 halftime lead.

"It went through, so it was good enough," said Belichick. "You'd like for those adjustments to be a little more in the middle instead of rimming the edge, but it was a 52-yard kick, so those are hard to make in any situation. That was a big kick for us."

Gostkowski, who is 30 for 30 on extra points, has made nine of his last 10 field goal attempts and is 11 for 15 on the season, a 73.3 percent success rate. Belichick credited both the holding of Walter and the new FieldTurf at Gillette Stadium for aiding Gostkowski's big boot.

Belichick said he wouldn't have even attempted the field goal on the old sandpit sod.

"You might be able to get it there, but getting it through, I don't know what the odds are," he said. "It would be tough sledding."

A recent SI.com power rankings report by Paul Zimmerman, a.k.a. "Dr. Z," questioned the effort of Patriots defensive lineman Richard Seymour in New England's 17-14 loss to the New York Jets Nov. 12. Zimmerman said Seymour played with "no effort" and "no technique." That happened to be the game that Ty Warren missed, and Seymour, who has been playing with a large wrap on his left elbow since injuring it at Buffalo, moved from right defensive end to left defensive end. There was no player availability yesterday, but in an interview with WEEI, Seymour, who had four tackles, a sack, a fumble recovery, a pass deflection, two quarterback hurries, and a field goal block against the Bears, hinted that the injury is hampering his play. "I doubt there's anybody in the league that feels fresh as a daisy here at the end of November that has played 10 or 11 games, but I thought Richard played well," said Belichick. "I thought he got off the ball well, showed some good quickness and made a significant number of plays in both the running and the passing game. I thought he used his hands well."

One of the secrets to Asante Samuel's success against the Bears -- a franchise-record-tying three interceptions -- may have been which side Samuel was on. The dreadlocked defensive back, who sat out last week against Green Bay, started at left corner, after making all his nine previous starts this season at right corner. "The left side is my best side," said Samuel, whose six interceptions have him tied for the league lead. "I see the ball better and get to break off my right foot. I love that side." Belichick said there was no strategic reason that Samuel was on the left side. It was simply that Samuel replaced Chad Scott, who sat out with a groin injury. Scott had started at left corner against Green Bay. "I thought he played well on the right side earlier in the year, too," said Belichick. "He's made quite a few plays over there. But that's something that we're just going to have to work out. I think all of the players are pretty versatile."

Belichick said Rodney Harrison continues to make progress from his broken scapula, and the coach sounded upbeat about the veteran safety's prospects for getting on the field before the end of the season. "It's getting better every day," said Belichick. "He's doing more today than he did yesterday. Hopefully he'll continue to head in the right direction." . . . The Patriots coach did what Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher could not, landing a shot, albeit a good-natured verbal one, on Tom Brady. When asked about Brady's duck and dip on Urlacher, Belichick said he has a lot of confidence in Brady's running ability, but that nobody will be mistaking the QB for Michael Vick. "He had a little space and was able to give Brian probably his best move, maybe his only move," said Belichick with a smile . . . With Junior Seau on injured reserve, the Patriots have an open roster spot, so they could look to sign another linebacker. One interesting possibility would be Orlando Ruff. The team brought in Ruff, an eight-year veteran who played for Romeo Crennel in Cleveland last year, for a workout in August. As of last night, Ruff's representatives said the linebacker had not been contacted by the Patriots.

Mike Reiss of the Globe staff contributed to this report.