How much will the woes of Jake Elliott come into effect in the NFC Championship?

Jake Elliott has been one of the most accurate kickers in the NFL for the majority of his 8-year career. He’s coming off of the best 3 years of his career, putting 80 of his 88 (91%) field goal attempts through the goalpost since 2021.

Elliott missed 8 field goals this season alone.

Elliott, whose struggles have subsequently given him the nickname “Missy Elliott”, has made just 2 of his 5 extra-point attempts in the Wild Card and Divisional Round combined this postseason.

His folding under pressure even almost cost Philadelphia a spot in the NFC Championship game.

The Birds were up just 6 points on the Rams in the Divisional Round when Los Angeles made a push for the end zone in the waning minutes of the game. Elliott missed 2 of his 3 extra-point attempts in this game, leaving 2 crucial points on the board. Had the Rams made it all the way to the end zone and hit their extra point, the Commanders would be heading to LA to head to the Super Bowl. Instead, the defense made huge stops and saved Jake Elliott and the Birds.

These extra point woes are simply on Jake Elliott. There is no excuse for it.

The weather played a big part in the Divisional Round game against LA, but not for the Rams kicker.

Joshua Karty, a rookie, nailed all of his field goals and extra-point attempts in the snowy Philadelphia conditions. The 22-year-old from North Carolina… who plays in the warm weather of LA…. inside a dome… was able to knock down clutch field goals and extra points despite the cold, windy, and icy conditions.

So how will Elliott’s mishaps play into Sunday’s NFC Championship game against Washington?

Zane Gonzalez, the Commanders’ kicker, is decently accurate. The backup who replaced Austin Seibert earlier this year has nailed all of his postseason extra points and only missed one field goal, granted being from 40+ yards out. However, Gonzalez hasn’t played all that well in cold conditions this season, hitting just 3 of his 5 field goals in his 3 games in the cold.

Since Gonzalez is pretty accurate, it leaves Jake Elliott little room for failure. There cannot be any missed opportunities to score in this game against a team like Washington, who scored at an elite rate, This means that if the Eagles want to win this game, Jake Elliott needs to knock em’ down.

If he does not, the Washington Commanders will beat us on our home field in the NFC Championship game.

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