Kurtenbach: Jake Moody’s latest misses should seal his 49ers’ fate
SANTA CLARA Jake Moody missed another kick on Saturday It should be his last miss in a ers uniform The ers kicker pulled a -yard extra-point attempt left of the uprights in the Niners preseason finale against the Chargers on Saturday cementing a preseason and training camp where the embattled kicker only invited more questions about why he remained the club s top kicker Yes Moody made a -yard field goal to beat the Raiders last Saturday a kick that if you listened to folks with the band apparently righted all the wrongs of the past year and this preseason I think he demonstrated the moxie he has special teams coordinator Brant Boyer noted of that game-winning kick Or to phrase it differently Moody has a great personality which is what you say when you re trying to set up a friend with someone who is butt-ugly I m sure I was described that way to my beautiful out-of-my-league now-wife Moxie Who cares There s only one thing that matters with kickers making kicks Moody doesn t do that often enough Related Articles Kurtenbach The ers are panic-buying to cover their roster-building mistakes Kurtenbach The ers aren t ready and it s hard to see that changing The ers have a big trouble at wide receiver Here are three reasonable solutions The five biggest questions facing the ers in the final week of preseason Kurtenbach ers Studs and Duds Purdy shows poise vs Raiders key draft pick confuses Did Moody have moxie when he put a kickoff eight yards out of bounds in the third quarter nearly taking out a cheerleader and giving the Chargers the ball at the -yard line The fact that Boyer who was fuming after the bad kickoff didn t go full Urban Meyer and kick Moody when they passed each other on the sidelines shows how much of a pro he is Related Articles Kurtenbach The ers are panic-buying to cover their roster-building mistakes Kurtenbach The ers aren t ready and it s hard to see that changing The ers have a big concern at wide receiver Here are three reasonable solutions The five biggest questions facing the ers in the final week of preseason Kurtenbach ers Studs and Duds Purdy shows poise vs Raiders key draft pick confuses The Niners have been afraid of looking like fools by cutting Moody a third-round pick from They would be admitting they made the wrong call when they used pick No on a kicker But the Niners front office is too late far too late if they re trying to avoid being laughed at Things became so ridiculous on Saturday that the vigor in the home crowd rose anytime Moody lined up to kick the ball His makes were met with raucous sarcastic cheers The people have spoken The Niners made the wrong call at the end of last season and the beginning of this one Every mistake Moody makes only further highlights that fact Compounding the ers fear of moving on is the bizarre belief that Moody will sign with another squad and look good After all he must be so talented if the Niners used that draft capital on him right So instead of finding a kicker that can you know make kicks the Niners decided to continue to suffer through Moody s poor performances wasting valuable time to try out other kickers this August including Greg Joseph who was signed this offseason a sham kicking competition that ended weeks ago What s so strange about the Niners Moody love is that the company has shown the ability to admit mistakes in the past Moody was taken just ahead of Cam Latu pick No in Latu a tight end was so bad for the Niners that they saw no reason to keep him around after one training camp putting him on injured reserve without designation to return and then cutting him at the start of the following season I guess Latu lacked moxie The Niners don t have to live like this They aren t indebted to a kicker So let s name various guys Matt Prater Eddy Pineiro Michael Badgley Zane Gonzalez Austin Seibert and Cade York are all unsigned free agents A slew of kickers will be disclosed between in contemporary times and Tuesday s NFL cut-down day like the Jets Harrison Mevis or the loser of the Panthers kicking competition between Matthew Wright the Niners best kicker last season and rookie Ryan Fitzgerald or the Colts between Spencer Shrader and Maddux Trujillo There are NFL-caliber kickers that spent their past springs in the UFL including Rodrigo Blankenship and Chris Blewitt Or how about Joseph And yet the Niners actively decided that keeping Moody was the best way to win games in for the last nine months looking for any reason to justify keeping him on the roster What has Moody done to deserve such loyalty What has he done to repay it Related Articles ers preseason finale Cue the awards at closing time against Harbaugh s Chargers Kurtenbach The ers are panic-buying to cover their roster-building mistakes ers agreement for Washington RB Brian Robinson ers -man roster projection before preseason finale Kurtenbach The ers aren t ready and it s hard to see that changing Moody spent the last week missing a -yard kick in Las Vegas and then barely squeezing in a chip-shot on his next kick Then he missed from and yards in practice on Thursday followed by the should-be-fateful missed extra point and errant kickoff Saturday So no his career was not changed by that -yard preseason make But his ers career should end because of his latest miss Moody is by all accounts a decent person who does have an NFL-caliber leg It s not his fault the Niners errantly decided to make him the fifth kicker taken in the top picks this century putting undue pressure on him to be not just good but great But forget all that stuff and his so-called moxie This is professional football results are all that matter This Moody charade should have ended so various times already If it doesn t end in the hours between Sunday at a m and Tuesday at p m when rosters need to be trimmed it will be the clearest sign yet that the ers front office cares more about their egos than winning football games in
