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(AP)

FOXBOROUGH – The punter battle taking place between Ryan Allen and Zoltan Mesko may not end up coming down to who has the bigger leg or who better hangs the ball.

It's very possible that it will boil down to something much simpler and elementary: How long it takes each player send the ball sailing.

When boiling things down to the most basic aspect of the job – the physical act of punting the ball – it becomes clear that Mesko, at least in this regard, holds a distinct advantage over Allen when charting on how long it takes each player to get the ball off after receiving the snap.

During Friday night's game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Mesko managed to get both of his kicks off in 1.1 seconds. Allen averaged 1.25-1.3 seconds on his two punts. The difference in real time is almost indistinguishable. On the football field, though, that split second can be the difference between getting a punt off cleanly and having it blocked, as Allen learned during Wednesday's practice when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers spiked one of his attempts to the dirt.

But even though Mesko is faster – his time is considered to be toward the top of the NFL – Allen's time is on par with most other punters in the league, according to Jamie Kohl, a former Iowa State University punter who now trains NFL punters.

"If a punter gets into the 1.35 range then the chances for a block increase dramatically and most teams will go after that punter with a great deal of regularity," Kohl said. "To answer your question, a 10th between 1.1 and 1.25 should not make much of a difference. A 10th between 1.25 and 1.35 does."

Kohl later stated that, if all things are equal, "a coach will always go for the quicker punter."

Based on gross numbers, the case for Allen, a two-time Ray Guy winner, awarded to the nation's top collegiate punter, is easy to make. As a senior at Louisiana Tech, Allen averaged 48 yards per punt and put 20 of 45 inside the 20-yard line. Mesko, meanwhile, was 28th in the NFL last year in gross average (43.1 yards) and placed 28 of 60 punts inside the 20-yard line.

The difference in leg strength was evident Friday night, as Allen averaged 54 yards to Mesko's 44.7. But success could not be determined with a measuring tape. Once again, a stopwatch was needed.

Allen sent the ball sailing 55 yards on his first kick, but only managed to hang it in the air for 4.3 seconds. The ball moved like a line drive, traveling faster than New England's coverage team could get down the field, which allowed the Eagles to bring it back for a 62-yard return.

In other words, he out-kicked his coverage.

On his next attempt, Allen sent the ball sailing 52 yards with around four seconds of hangtime, though the outcome was more favorable, as Philadelphia logged 10 yards on the return.

By comparison, on three attempts, Mesko averaged 4.4 seconds of hangtime and did not allow a return longer than 9 yards. The advantage is clear.

Mesko is set to become a free agent after this season and siding with Allen would save the Patriots more than $900,000 against the salary cap. So that will also factor into the decision.

If the Patriots' starting punting job is decided by the stopwatch, at least at this early juncture, it appears that Mesko has emerged as the front-runner.