SANTA CLARA — Jake Moody knew as quickly as he kicked the ball he wouldn’t get the carry he desired.
Little did he know that failing to file a touchback could be an enormous play for the 49ers in a 24-23 loss to the Arizona Cardinals Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
The 49ers had simply scored 61-yard return by Deommodore Lenoir of a blocked 45-yard subject aim by Chad Ryland try courtesy of Jordan Elliott, giving them a 19-10 lead and a a lot wanted increase to however a maligned particular groups unit.
Moody then transformed the additional level for a 20-10 lead earlier than kicking off to the Cardinals.
As much as that time, Moody had 19 touchbacks on 21 kickoffs on the season, which is among the many greatest within the league.
“Going in into the wind in that direction, I kind of got under it a little bit,” Moody stated afterward, sporting a protecting boot on his proper foot. “It was not deep enough to let it go for a touchback. They brought it out and it sucks how it ended up turning out.”
Arizona returner DeeJay Dallas acquired free, broke to his left and Moody did what soccer gamers do. He tried — and succeeded — in making the sort out on the Arizona 38-yard line. Nonetheless, his proper foot acquired twisted beneath, and the ensuing excessive ankle sprain put Moody out of the sport.
Moody will likely be out indefinitely, and the 49ers have already begun calling place kickers for what may very well be a monthlong absence or longer.
That left punter Mitch Wishnowsky because the place kicker, with fullback Kyle Juszczyk because the holder. Wishnowsky transformed a 26-yard subject aim try late in that half, however coach Kyle Shanahan stated he wasn’t comfy making an attempt subject targets from something farther than the 15-yard line.
That meant when the 49ers drove so far as the Arizona 13 within the third quarter, and the drive disintegrated with a false begin on Jauan Jennings and a sack absorbed by Brock Purdy, the 49ers had been pressured to go for a primary down on fourth-and-23 relatively than have Moody try a 44-yard subject aim to salvage some factors.
Purdy was incomplete on fourth down, and the 49ers nonetheless led 23-13 however the missed factors proved to be essential. When Arizona lastly took their last lead at fourth-and-23, Purdy had all of a 1:37 to make one thing occur — with no place kicker.
Because the 49ers processed the defeat afterward, there was no denying the Lenoir landing (on his twenty fifth birthday) adopted by Moody’s harm had performed an enormous half.
“It was a crazy thing, but in the NFL it’s `next man up’ always,’ ” Lenoir stated.
Juszczyk, who kicked a number of balls right into a internet in case he was known as on to kick, shook his head on the sudden flip of occasions.
“It just seems like with each loss we’ve had a series of events that have gone on top of each other,” he stated. “It’s hard to plan for and these things are unfortunate. You’ve got to answer and score touchdowns and not have to kick field goals.”
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Moody, who finally walked off the sector beneath his personal energy — though he hopped the ultimate 10 yards — knew instantly it wasn’t good.
“I broke my leg in the eighth grade in a pretty similar way, actually, so that was my first thought,” Moody stated. “Thankfully, I didn’t feel anything break or crack as I did when I did break it. But I knew something was wrong.”
There have been occasions with the Raiders the place place kicker Sebastian Janikowski would make a beeline for the sideline after a kickoff to verify he was out of hurt’s manner. It by no means occurred to Moody.
“I’m always going to try and make the best tackle I can,” he stated. “I’m not trying to make tackles every single day so it’s not something I’m used to but I’m going to do the best I can to get him down. Just try to go lower I guess. I kind of got rolled up on.”
Shanahan wouldn’t have it another manner.
“You try to tackle. You don’t tell guys to keep their ankle out of it,” he stated. “You hope that it doesn’t come to him and he doesn’t have to make a tackle, but you also don’t tell guys to turn it down and just let them score. So, it’s part of football.”
Moody had subject targets of 28 and 20 yards — with the 49ers once more struggling within the purple zone — however got here into the sport having missed only one subject aim in 4 video games, a 54-yard try towards the Rams. He was 13-for-14 on the time of the harm and was 3-for-3 between 40 and 49 yards and 2-for-3 on makes an attempt of 50-plus.
“Losing your kicker is huge, especially when you’ve got a guy who’s good from 57 yards,” tight finish George Kittle stated. “That’s tough. Jake’s a hell of a kicker and when you don’t have that option and now you’ve got to get to the 25-yard line to kick (actually the 15), that’s tough. But I think our special teams and our defense gave us every opportunity to win.
“As an offensive player who’s been here for eight yards, that’s mostly on us more than anything else.”
Alright mate! Mitch Wishnowsky’s first profession FG 🙌
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Wishnowsky was now not round when reporters entered the locker room. It’s not the primary time he’s been pressed into obligation. In Week 4 of 2021, place kicker Robbie Gould had a groin pressure in warmups and couldn’t kick. Wishnowsky, with Taybor Pepper snapping and Juszczyk holding, was 1-for-2 on further level makes an attempt however missed a 41-yard subject aim try extensive left.
With the additional level that day, Wishnowsky grew to become the primary Australian participant to attain a degree in an NFL recreation. Coincidentally, following the conversion, Wishnowsky, a former soccer and rugby participant, laid an enormous hit on DeeJay Dallas on the guaranteeing kickoff. The identical Dallas that Moody tackled with a much more painful end result on Sunday.
Soccer coaches have plans for the whole lot, however utilizing observe time to arrange for dropping one immediately isn’t a part of the plan partly as a result of kicking and punting are dramatically completely different by way of the muscle tissues use and within the fundamentals of the swing.
“It’s such a weird anomaly,” Pepper stated. “Your punter may take a few kicks through the year, but as an every week thing it’s not the expectation of an NFL punter.”
Initially Printed: October 6, 2024 at 6:44 p.m.
