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. He's been part of the two Eagles teams who most recently reached the Super Bowl. He was one of the heroes in one of those games. In both seasons, he notched 111 points.
He missed five field goals and two extra points during the season the first time around. He missed and three field goals and two extra points during the 2022-23 campaign.
He appears to be having a pretty similar season this time around.
Totaling 67 points after Week 11, Elliott seems set to reach the 100-point threshold again during the current season. He need only average 6.3 points during the remaining seven games. That's a very doable feat.
We would we be having a different discussion if the Eagles lost Thursday's game, but they didn't. Let's agree to give Jake a pass. With the NFC East and possible conference superiority on the line, Elliott will have to redeem himself. We expect he'll do so next week against the Rams.