Jake Elliott's performance on Thursday night against the Washington Commanders was, shall we say, rough. The Philadelphia Eagles' long-time kicker played his worst game all season, and quite possibly his career. He missed two field goals and an extra point, leaving seven total points on the field.
Philly could have walked away from the game with 35 points. The 28 they accrued was enough to secure a win, but they didn't have to make things hard on themselves.
Fans were confused and even angered throught the roller coaster. You can blame special teams for some of that, but don't give up on your kicker... not yet.
Jake Elliott goes wide left one too many times
Elliott's first miss came on Philly's initial drive of the game. A 44-yarder sailed wide left. That ended an 11-play drive with zero points.
Early in the second quarter, Philly still trailed by seven points. Elliott was again aske to kick a 51-yarder. His attempt again sailed wide left. The Birds remained scoreless. Many were worried about the Eagles chances for victory.
Eventually the pendulum swung in Philly's favor, and the third time proved to be the charm. Elliott morphed back into Jake 'The Make', splitting the uprights from 21 yards out. Halftime came with the Eagles down by four points, but many beleved they should have been leading by two.
It's not time to give up on Jake Elliott. Here's why.
Elliott's fourth kick of the night was successful, one that came less than nine minutes later. Then, Philly's offense finally found the end zone, but Jake would miss the extra point.
And, you guessed it. The attempt again sailed wide left. Finishing his night with eight points scored when he could have added 15 wasn't the performance fans or Jake expected.
We've seen kickers around the league fired for much less, but the Eagles aren't ready to begin their search for a replacement.
Coach Nick Sirianni responded to the catastrophe on the Pat McAfee show, stating, "We have so much faith in Jake Elliott and he's made so many big kicks for us. ...I'm just looking forward to the next time he gets outs there and has an opportunity to set straight."
Elliott's been around since 2017, including both Super Bowl trips (and a win!). In both seasons, Philadelphia's kicker finished with a total of 111 points. Missing 5 field goals and 2 extra points in 2018 and 3 field goals and 2 extra points in 2022, he's having a pretty similar season this year.
Totaling 67 points after Week 11, Elliott will reach his 111 point benchmark by kicking an average of 6.3 points per remaining game — a very doable feat.
If the Eagles would have lost Thursday's game, would we be having a different discussion? Yes. But, we can give him a one-time pass. With the division and conference on the line, Elliott will have to redeem himself next week. Watch him do it against the Rams.
