Game-winner offers Moody brief reprieve
On a breezy mid-August night in Santa Clara, inside a half-empty stadium, the fragile, fickle world of NFL placekickers was on full display.
Jake Moody stood front and center. A decorated college kicker at Michigan, Moody got considerable scrutiny after missing two field-goal attempts for the San Francisco 49ers last Sunday against the Raiders. How would he respond? Was Moody really worth the investment of a third-round draft pick? Would head coach Kyle Shanahan’s head explode if Moody missed again? (No, apparently.)
Moody’s extra-point attempt in the third quarter drifted wide right Saturday against Denver, sparking predictable outrage on social media. And yet the game ended with Moody’s teammates engulfing him in celebration after his last-second kick sailed through the uprights, straight and true, to push the 49ers to a 21-20 preseason victory over the Broncos.
Two games into his pro career, not even real games, Moody already knows the anxiety of failure and the exhilaration of success. Three misses in two games is not what the 49ers envisioned when they made him the NFL’s highest-drafted kicker in seven years.
Between field-goal and extra-point attempts, he’s 4-for-7 so far, instantly creating angst among 49ers faithful — even after the first game-winning, walk-off field goal of his life. If it’s any consolation, Moody isn’t thrilled with himself, either.
“It’s frustrating, I don’t want to miss any obviously,” Moody said. “It makes it a little nicer having made the game-winner and not costing us the game. But you want every missed kick back. It’s going to bother me for the next day or so, and then I’ve just got to move on.”
Moody need only glance across the field for a reminder of a kicker’s precarious existence. Brett Maher, a sorrowful figure in last season’s NFL playoffs, returned to Levi’s Stadium with his new team, under decidedly different circumstances.
Seven months earlier, after he missed four extra-point attempts in Dallas’ wild-card victory (four!), Maher’s extrapoint try was blocked in the Cowboys’ loss to the 49ers on Jan. 22. This time, seeking to resurrect his reputation, Maher was perfect: two field goals (from 48 and 34 yards) and two extra points.
It’s easy to forget, but Maher was 29-for-32 on field-goal attempts last year during the regular season, missing only once inside 58 yards. So in summary: He was great, then terrible and now he’s good again.
Moody and Maher, who hadn’t met before Saturday, chatted on the field before the game and again afterward. Maher, 33, sought to reassure his young colleague.
“It was good talking to Brett,” Moody, 23, said. “I’m glad I got to hear from him a bit, how to deal with stuff like that. He’s bouncing back, too, so I’m really happy for him. He said, ‘Trust yourself, you got here for a reason. Don’t change anything and just keep doing you.’ ”
Soon after his latest missed kick, Moody retreated to the 49ers’ sideline. He pounded a few kicks into the practice net, then wandered to the opposite end of the bench — walking slowly, without a hint of bravado — and plopped down next to fellow kicker Zane Gonzalez.
Gonzalez’s presence adds an intriguing wrinkle into the 49ers’ potential dilemma. Gonzalez made 20-of-22 field-goal attempts with Carolina in 2021, including his last 17 in a row, before missing last season with a torn groin muscle. He gives the 49ers a viable alternative.
But they invested a thirdround draft pick, a precious asset, in Moody. They’ve watched him drill kick after kick in training camp, validating their faith. And now they’ve seen his first two games abruptly plant doubt.
To his credit, Moody offered no excuses. He fielded questions for nearly 10 minutes at his locker, explaining how he craved the chance for redemption but will dwell on the miss. He didn’t blame the wind or the hold or the ghost of Robbie Gould.
All on him.
“It just wasn’t a great hit,” Moody said of the wayward kick. “That’s what he (specialteams coordinator Brian Schneider) was saying, that didn’t look like me. The word he uses is ‘attack,’ and it just didn’t look like I attacked the ball. I was trying to kick it a little too smooth, and then the wind just took it at the end. …
“I wouldn’t say any of my kicks tonight were that clean, honestly. The last one was about as close as I’ve gotten to a clean ball. It’s just a learning curve, I guess.”
If Moody’s inconsistency stretches into the regular season, the 49ers will face valid questions about their decisions at kicker. They clearly have a serious Super Bowl contender, and still they swapped Gould for an unproven rookie to save salary-cap space.
Gould ranks eighth in NFL history in field goals made (447) and field-goal percentage (86.5), but the 49ers didn’t want to pay him. Was that really smart? Just imagine if San Francisco falls one game short of the Super Bowl because of a Moody miss.
That’s a conversation for January, of course, and it’s only August. For now, Shanahan simply wants Moody’s practice form to carry over into games.
“I’d like it to go really high and right down the middle every time, and I didn’t see that today,” Shanahan said after Saturday’s game. “But what (Moody) is working through. It was better this week than last week. He’s been extremely consistent in practice, which is why I don’t worry too much. I think he’ll keep getting better as he goes.”