These moments in recent 49ers history justified why placekicker Jake Moody was ultimately cut in only his third season.
San Francisco 49ers place kicker Jake Moody (4) | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
It's always a tall order to replace a Hall of Famer at any position in the NFL.
The San Francisco 49ers found that the hard way in the past couple seasons.
The retirement of Robbie Gould partnered with the San Francisco 49ers already planning on moving on from the legendary placekicker after the 2022 season made for an interesting transition for the five-time Super Bowl winners. Since [drafting the replacement](https://ninernoise.com/49ers-long-term-jake-moody-replacement-popping-radar) with the 99th overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, it has been [a bit of a rollercoaster](https://ninernoise.com/jake-moody-roller-coaster-ride-leaves-49ers-no-choice) with Jake Moody.
His rookie season offered hope as the former Michigan Wolverine connected on 84 percent of his field goals, in addition to recording a league-high 60 made point-after scores in 61 attempts. But last year, Moody's field-goal accuracy dropped by nearly 14 percent.
After going 1-of-3 in the Week 1 victory against the Seattle Seahawks to kick off the 2025 season, general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan apparently had enough, and the Niners ultimately parted ways with Moody.
Jake Moody's 3 biggest botches with the 49ers
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San Francisco did not want to continue the 2025 season with Moody as the placekicker, subsequently citing a full lack of confidence in ability despite the obvious talent.
Alas, here are the former 49ers kicker's three worst moments.
### 1\. Blocked PAT at Super Bowl LVIII (Feb. 11, 2024)
For the second time in four years, San Francisco earned a trip to the Super Bowl and would get a rematch against the Kansas City Chiefs. On the heels of a 55-yard field goal, the longest at the time in Super Bowl history, the 49ers took the 3-0 lead.
Chiefs' placekicker Harrison Butker came back and beat that record by 2 yards a quarter later. Moody would connect on a second field goal of more than 50 yards and nail a third field goal in overtime to give San Francisco a 22-19 lead over Kansas City in the early minutes of overtime.
The 49ers would go on to lose the game 25-22, however. Moody had an extra-point attempt blocked in the fourth quarter, allowing the Chiefs to claw back and steal a second Super Bowl win from Shanahan and his team.
One can only wonder if Moody connected on that extra point, thereby changing the overtime narrative.
### 2\. Jake Moody misses 2 field goals, costing 49ers perfect season in 2023
When you lose a game by two points, especially on the road, every point matters. It did for a then-undefeated Niners team in Week 6 of the 2023 season.
San Francisco opened up the year 5-0 and took the momentum to Cleveland, Ohio, to visit the Browns. Unfortunately, the 49ers suffered their first loss of the year, 19-17.
Moody missed two field goals, one in the first quarter and a second at the end of the game. Failing to make the 41-yard kick handed the Niners the first of three losses in a row in 2023.
### 3\. Jake Moody misses multiple field goals in another 1-possession game.
Coming off the Week 9 bye in 2024, San Francisco traveled to Florida to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Despite the 49ers winning by three points, multiple misses from Moody made this game closer than what it should have been.
In his second year with the team, the Commerce Township, Michigan, native was a perfect 14-of-14 with field goals 39 yards out or shorter. However, Moody missed three of his six field-goal attempts that game, all three miss being from 40 yards and deeper, leaving nine points off the board for the Niners.
That game might have been the beginning of the end for Moody, as the misses triggered wide receiver Deebo Samuel to get into a physical altercation with special teams members, indicating the kicker was starting to fracture the locker room.
Either way, the Niners' patience with Moody ran out not a year later.