Place kicker Jake Moody is mobbed by 49ers' teammates after kicking a 59-yard field goal at the gun to to beat the Raiders 22-19 at Allegiant Stadium.
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Place kicker Jake Moody is mobbed by 49ers' teammates after kicking a 59-yard field goal at the gun to to beat the Raiders 22-19 at Allegiant Stadium.
Jake Moody was getting slapped around Saturday and this time it wasn’t Deebo Samuel doing it in frustration and anger.
On a day where Moody looked dangerously close to losing his job as the 49ers’ place kicker, he instead finished off the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium with a 59-yard field goal at the gun for a 22-19 win.
Moody was pummeled by teammates in the aftermath, this time in joy.
“I hit it really well,” Moody said in the postgame locker room. “The guy rushing the edge hit me. I fell on my back, I didn’t even get to see it. It was pretty cool to have everybody pick me off the ground. It was fun.”
Moody’s longest field goal in the regular season is 57 yards at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in Week 2 of the 2023 season. Moody connected from distances of 30, 26, 50, 44 and finally 59. His lone miss was from 53 yards.
“I think going 4-for-5 (actually 5-for-6) and hitting a 59-yarder and a 50-yarder, the game-winner from 59, that’s a hell of a day for him,” coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters. “I thought he kicked his ass off and it gives us a lot of confidence.”
But let’s not kid ourselves. Moody was worth about a nickel or less on social media on his second and third attempts. Releasing Greg Joseph and ending the place kicker competition on Aug. 4 was not a popular move among much of the fan base after Moody went 9-for-20 following his return in 2024 from a high ankle sprain.
After making his first kick from 30 yards, Moody missed the 53-yarder badly to the left. It was not close, and it set up the Raiders with a short-field drive that resulted in a 35-yard field goal by counterpart Daniel Carlson. The next attempt was a 26-yard chip shot. He hit it poorly and it barely snaked inside the left upright and might not have been good from the extra-point distance of 33 yards.
With 9:27 to play, Moody hit a 50-yard attempt to tie the score 16-16, setting the stage or a wild ending.
The third-year place kicker, who scored the last nine points of the game for the 49ers, needed a lot of help from his friends to be in position to make his last two kicks.
Moody’s 44-yard field goal came after the 49ers botched a first-and-goal opportunity at the Raiders’ 9-yard line with false starts on Isaiah Prince and Nick Zakelj and a sack of quarterback Carter Bradley. Moody tied it 16-16 with less than a minute to go.
Then Jaylen Mahoney intercepted Cam Miller at the Las Vegas 41-yard line, giving Moody a shot at the game-winner.
“I’m glad I got a couple of chances to bounce back, get on track,” Moody said. “Get in a couple of situations to throw myself in. I’m glad I got all those chances and I appreciate the offense getting me in position and that pick at the end was awesome.”
San Francisco 49ers place kicker Jake Moody (4) makes a field goal during the first half of a preseason NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Jake Moody (4) of the 49ers makes one of his five field goals Saturday in a 22-19 win over the Raiders at Allegiant stadium. AP Photo
Moody changed from a three-step approach that included a jab-step to a two-step approach in the offseason. He stayed at two steps from 59 yards, believing his limit was 63. Anything farther and he’d go back to the jab step.
Shanahan, who doesn’t spend a lot of time analyzing the physical and mental makeups of place kickers or their mechanics, had little to offer Moody.
“I don’t discriminate towards anyone, but there’s not a lot to talk about,” Shanahan said. “You kick it between those two uprights and if they want to talk, that’s fine. I’ll do whatever they want. But I don’t pretend that I’m doing something when I talk to the kicker. I don’t like anyone going up to them, either. I want them to stay mentally clear, lock in on their job and get it done.”
Moody has sought help in that regard.
“I’ve been talking with a sports performance coach and he’s really harping on process over outcome,” Moody said. “There’s nothing I can do to go back and change the past. All I can do is focus on the next one and focus on the process.
“That’s as simple as running on the field, taking a little practice kick, focusing on my steps and making sure those are good and not thinking about anything that’s previously happened or what might happen in the future.”
Punter Thomas Morstead, who serves as Moody’s holder, liked how he bounced back.
“He’s had to work through some things in his young career,” Morstead said. “I’m sure he’d like to have a couple kicks back, one that missed and another that wasn’t a great hit that went on. But that’s why it takes tough-mindedness to play that position in this league. No one cares how it happens. Did it go in or not? It’s a tough mental game to play.”
Morstead conceded there was pressure on Moody to come through even though it had nothing to do with a won-loss record.
“That’s acknowledging the realities of the position, and he made the next one and he made the next one and he made the next one,” Morstead said. “These games don’t count, but they still matter.”
It mattered a lot for Jake Moody Saturday. Maybe more than he realizes.
Staff writer Cam Inman contributed to this report
Originally Published: August 16, 2025 at 11:34 AM PDT
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