The 49ers' Jake Moody Experience continues for another season after his wild preseason performance.
With 41 seconds left in a generally meaningless preseason game, San Francisco 49ers kicker Jake Moody lined up for a 44-yard field goal. It felt like he was kicking for his 49ers future, which made the outcome inevitable—of course he'd make it. And through the uprights it went.
Jake Moody embodies the kind of volatility that franchises aim to avoid at the position. The ideal is reliability; Moody offers a constant sense of uncertainty. The inconsistency is perhaps the most frustrating part of the equation. A kicker who is consistently great warrants loyalty; a kicker who is consistently poor forces change. Moody exists in the maddening space in between, where every attempt is a question mark. Except for the one kick he had to make.
The physical talent that prompted the 49ers to select him in the third round of the 2023 draft is evident, but confidence remains the missing piece. Often, kickers with similar physical attributes are able to find consistency after a change of scenery. Organizations must accept the possibility that a talented but troubled kicker could flourish elsewhere, since that prospect is not a sufficient reason to endure continued struggles.
The 49ers' ongoing situation suggests the front office may be tethered to its initial evaluation, a common pitfall when significant draft capital is invested in any player, let alone a specialist. Meanwhile, the team's fanbase has largely exhausted its patience, frustrated by heightened expectations driven by that same draft pedigree.
The questionable decision to use the 99th overall draft pick on a kicker drew immediate and deserved scrutiny, and Moody has done little to quiet the skeptics during his tenure in San Francisco. His rookie campaign was statistically solid but marred by misses in high-leverage situations. His second season was marked by a significant decline in efficiency, particularly after his return from an ankle injury. Moody entered the 2025 offseason facing what the team touted as a "kicking competition" with veteran Greg Joseph, who was released before the preseason began, leaving the 49ers' kicker to compete against himself.
Week 1 passed without a real opportunity to lose. But the second preseason game began ominously for Moody. He made a short field goal but then shanked a 53-yard attempt, drawing a visible, visceral reaction from the crowd. He followed that by nearly missing another short kick, doing little to quiet the calls for his replacement.
But with minutes remaining in the game, the universe began arranging itself for maximum preseason drama. The 49ers mounted an unlikely final drive led by third-string quarterback Carter Bradley, who barely kept the drive alive with a fourth-down conversion at the two-minute warning. San Francisco drove down to the Raiders' 9-yard line before a series of mistakes pushed them back to the 26—just far enough to turn a routine field goal attempt into a challenge for an embattled kicker.
With 49 seconds left and facing third-and-goal, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan called a timeout to stop the clock—a decision that went largely unnoticed but guaranteed the Raiders would get the ball back with time to score if San Francisco was able to tie the game. After the timeout ended, an incompletion left the outcome squarely on Moody's leg from 44 yards out.
This was it. The moment when his 49ers future would be decided. Yet somehow, there was no doubt he would make it.
And he did. Game tied.
The Raiders got the ball back with just enough time for the cosmic kicker choreography to continue. The 49ers' defense delivered consecutive sacks, forcing their longtime rivals into a perfectly desperate third-and-17 situation. The Raiders pressed and threw an interception to safety Jaylen Mahoney, and when San Francisco didn't advance the return, it left them at the Raiders' 41-yard line with 13 seconds remaining on the clock.
Two incomplete passes later, Moody faced a 59-yard attempt for the win. This kick carried less pressure—missing from that distance was expected.
So he drilled it as time expired.
In an instant, the goat became the hero. The celebration that followed—for a preseason game—was telling; everyone wants Moody to succeed. But that's up to him.
So much had to go perfectly just to end up back where we started. Had he missed that pivotal 44-yard kick, the path forward would have been obvious. Instead, the dramatic finish gave the 49ers more than enough justification to run it back, leaving fans and teammates to pray every time Moody lines up for a field goal attempt.
The Jake Moody Experience is set for another year.
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