Jake Elliott ends toughest season of Eagles career on a record-setting high note

When we turned the page from the disappointment birthed by the 2023-24 Philadelphia Eagles and last year's collapse, the first thing we did was write down a list of everything that went wrong.

The next thing we did was craft a list of guys who we hoped wouldn't return for another season this time around. The last thing we thought we'd be talking about was our concerns about Jake Elliott.

Sure, he's a kicker. Still, normally when you ask around, the answer is pretty consistent. Jake is often described as one of the best athletes on this football team.

He's as automatic as they come, converting 30 of 32 field-goal attempts during the 2023-24 season and 45 of his 46 extra-point attempts. Yeah... Why on Planet Earth would we have ever thought we'd need to worry about 'Jake the Make'?

What a difference a year makes!

Jake Elliott struggles during the 2024-25 Eagles regular season.

There's regression, and there's falling off of the proverbial cliff. Eagles kicker Jake Elliott did the latter. An NFL Second-Team All-Pro in 2023, he's again, one of the last players we'd thought we'd ever have serious concerns about.

Then, we found out Jake is indeed human.

He continued his mastery of the extra-point conversion (47 makes on 48 attempts this season) but missed eight of his 36 field-goal attempts. That includes six misses on seven attempts from beyond 50 yards.

He made seven of eight attempts from that distance last season.

Birds fans and Eagles coaches were dealing with something that they hadn't previously, a lack of confidence in the great Jake Elliott. He's a Super Bowl hero for heaven's sake.

Usually makable attempts were eschewed as Nick Sirianni attempted to gain first-down yardage on fourth-down attempts. Yes, friends... We lacked confidence that Jake could come through in the clutch, and it appeared Philly's coaching staff felt the same way (even though they were saying all of the 'right things' publicly).

We even shuddered at the horror of needing him to make big kicks once the postseason began. There was just one issue. We were too deep in the season to find another kicker.

We're thankful we didn't.

Jake Elliott turns it on during the postseason and ends this season's story with a record-setting night in Super Bowl 59.

Jake Elliott entered the Eagles postseason run shrouded in question and, if he's being honest, doubts about his ability. We remained hopeful though. After all, he hadn't missed a postseason kick during his time in Philadelphia.

To his credit, Jake turned it on. He missed a few extra points, three to be exact. He went 13 of 16. He missed his first postseason field goal but would go on to make ten of his 11 attempts.

His best was saved for the biggest moments though, and it's for that reason that we are thankful. Versus the Los Angeles Rams, he missed two of three extra points but converted all three of his field-goal attempts including two in an all-out blizzard.

Then came the NFC Championship Game and Philly's most recent trip to football's biggest game.

Weather wouldn't be a factor in the Caesars Superdome, and Jake and the Eagles used that to their advantage. The Birds hung 40 on the two-time defending champions including 16 from their kicker. That's a record for points scored by a kicker during a Super Bowl. His nine career field goals made tie the most for a kicker in the game's long and storied history

Jake made all four of his field-goal attempts and all four of his extra-point attempts as Philly cruised to their second Super Bowl win. There's a saying. It isn't how you start. It's how you finish.

We've never entered an offseason concerned about Jake before now, so this is uncertain territory for all of us. Questions about Jake will certainly be asked during the offseason, but for now, let's celebrate and be thankful.

He didn't let us down and came through when his teammates most needed him to do so, and the Eagles have a second Lombardi Trophy to place on the shelf because of that.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel!

Read more about the Eagles' Super Bowl win!