Jake Elliott’s missed kick proves costly in what could be his final game with the Eagles
Jake Elliott missed a first-quarter PAT try in windy weather. The Eagles' final drive ended on downs at the 49ers' 21, and it could have been a field goal try had they been down three instead of four.
The sudden finish to the Eagles’ season cannot be narrowed down to one play, but perhaps Sunday’s 23-19 loss to the San Francisco 49ers would have at least reached overtime had Jake Elliott converted an extra point in the first quarter.
The Eagles’ final drive as reigning Super Bowl champions ended with a fourth-down incompletion at the 49ers’ 21-yard line — a play that instead would have been a field-goal try to force overtime had the Eagles been down three points instead of four.
Elliott, who missed four of his final 13 field-goal attempts in the regular season, battled the wind and lost when his extra point smacked the upright after the Eagles scored on their first drive of the game.
“It’s a lot of guessing out there. You saw his, too,” Elliott said as 49ers kicker Eddy Piñeiro missed an extra point in the fourth quarter. “We both tried to play it left to right, and there’s a 40-mile-per-hour wind blowing left to right. For both of those balls, the wind just didn’t quite hit them the way we thought it would. It’s a tough night to kick, but you obviously want to make them all.”
The first weekend of the postseason featured games in which missed kicks played a key role as Green Bay’s Brandon McManus (North Penn, Temple) missed two field goals and an extra point in a loss to Chicago, and Jacksonville’s Cam Little — who made an NFL-record 68-yarder earlier this year — missed a 54-yarder in a loss to Buffalo.
Like Eagles-49ers, those games were not exclusively decided by a leg, but it was hard to see the outcome and wonder what could have been had the ball went through the uprights.
“I’m just thinking about the next kick,” Elliott said when asked if he was thinking about his missed PAT while the Eagles had to try for a touchdown in the final minute. “You saw he missed one, too. It’s a tough night to kick. That’s not really what I’m thinking about during that moment in time. I’m thinking about that next kick.”
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Elliott, one of three players remaining from the Super Bowl LII champions, is under contract for next season but the team could look for an upgrade this offseason.
He made just 74.1% of his field goals this season, below the league average of 85.6%. His 77.8% rate last season also fell below the league average. Since last season, Elliott is 5-for-15 on field goals from 50-plus yards, while NFL kickers are converting long-range kicks at record rates.
“You show up every week and try to hit the ball well,” Elliott said. “I think for the most part, I did that. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, especially playing in the Northeast like this. We’ve had some pretty tough weather games. But, obviously, you want to make them all. It’s part of the job. You expect perfection and if it’s not that, it’s tough.”
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Brandon Graham, Elliott, and Lane Johnson — the three remaining players from the Super Bowl that capped the 2017 season — could be gone before next season. Johnson missed Sunday’s loss with the foot injury that has sidelined him since November and has openly pondered his retirement. Graham already retired after last season and his plans for next season are uncertain. Elliott, the author of so many important kicks in franchise history, could be kicking elsewhere in 2026.
“We’ll deal with that when we get there,” he said. “This is all pretty raw right now. I’m under contract here, so that’s the expectation, but you never know in this business. I’m just trying to get over this game.”