Thirteen ticks left on the clock, sixty yards of synthetic turf between Jake Moody and vindication: the snap, the hold, and the swing, a symphony of pressure condensed into one fluid motion. The ball sailed, a tight spiral cutting through the Vegas air, clearing the crossbar with room to spare. Fifty-nine yards. Game over. Niners win, 22-19. As teammates mobbed Moody, somewhere in the press box, or maybe back home staring at his own hasty words on a screen, 49ers reporter Chase Senior was preparing a very specific, very humble meal: his own words, served with a generous side of crow.
Senior, to his credit, became the story’s most compelling footnote. His post-game “winners” list led with the kicker he’d just buried: “Jake Moody: way to shut me up, respond to adversity and drill clutch kicks of 44, 50 and 59 yards.” In his video recap, the crow was served hot and fresh.
The Biggest 49ers vs. Raiders Preseason WINNERS
Jake Moody: way to shut me up, respond to adversity and drill clutch kicks of 44, 50 and 59 yards
Brock Purdy and Ricky Pearsall looked great on the opening drive.
Nick Martin improved week over week and really flashed with a… pic.twitter.com/Kc8W24DiB2
— Chase Senior (@Chase_Senior) August 17, 2025
“Gotta give it up to Jake Moody. I was calling him out saying the Niners need to cut his ass and he shut me up… Props to you, Jake Moody. I will eat the crow.” It was a full-throated, public mea culpa, acknowledging the ultimate truth in sports: performance speaks louder than punditry.
Just hours before, Senior’s take on Moody wasn’t just critical; it was a full-blown eviction notice. “The San Francisco 49ers need to cut Jake Moody. Stop trying to justify using a 3rd round pick on a kicker. Admit your mistake and move on,” he’d declared on social media, the digital gauntlet thrown down hard. His video dissection was brutal.
“It is time, and it’s been time… He is mentally lost… That 53-yarder earlier, everybody knew he was missing it. Didn’t stand a chance… Even Jake Moody knew… Leave him in Las Vegas… He cannot be on this roster… Get rid of him.” Senior painted a picture of a kicker drowning in doubt, a sunk cost the Niners desperately needed to abandon before the real games began.
Fast forward to the fourth quarter of that very Las Vegas preseason clash. Moody’s night hadn’t started like a redemption arc. First came the 50-yarder. Clean. Then the 44-yarder. Pure. Finally, with the game on the line, the 59-yarder–a distance his new mechanics are built for. He silenced the doubters in one fell swoop.
From goat to hero, one swing at a time
A shaky 26-yarder later barely snuck inside the upright, doing little to quell the murmurs. The ghosts of his challenging 2024 season – the high ankle sprain, the NFL-high 10 missed field goals, the intense offseason battle with veteran Greg Joseph – seemed to linger on the Allegiant turf.
But something shifted. Call it the muscle memory of the “Money Moody” who rewrote the record books at Michigan (all-time scoring leader, most FGs, that 59-yard collegiate long). Call it the quiet confidence forged in the OTAs and training camp crucible where he overhauled his technique, adopting a crisper two-step approach under new coach Brant Boyer. Or call it simply the unshakeable focus of a guy whose pre-game rituals are timed to the minute and whose idea of bonding is a super burrito with long snapper Taybor Pepper. Whatever it was, Moody found it.
Oct 15, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; San Francisco 49ers place kicker Jake Moody (4) unbuckles his helmet after missing a field goal against the Cleveland Browns with six seconds left on the game clock during the fourth quarter at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
“It feels really good,” Moody said post-game, the understatement of the night. “I am glad I got a few more chances after the miss earlier to bounce back and get on track.” Resilience personified.
Moody’s heroics capped a night of mixed signals for San Francisco. Brock Purdy, sharp and efficient (5/7, 66 yds), effortlessly connected with rookie Ricky Pearsall (3 rec, 42 yds on the opening drive) on his lone series. That was a tantalizing glimpse of chemistry that had Kyle Shanahan noting, “The more Brock and Ricky are out there together, the better they get.”
Rookie linebacker Nick Martin, shaking off early over-pursuit, flashed serious potential, leading the team in tackles and notching a sack and a TFL. Chase Lucas and Marques Sigle continued strong preseasons in the secondary.
Yet, the “barely win” aspect of the title wasn’t just about the score. Injuries bit hard again: starting RG Dominick Puni (possible PCL), RB Patrick Taylor (dislocated shoulder), and promising rookie RB Corey Kiner (high-ankle sprain) all exited early. The run game sputtered (28 carries, 64 yds), and the backup O-line committed four false starts. The margin for error, as Senior himself had warned when bashing Moody, remains razor-thin.
But on August 16, the narrative belonged to the kicker and the reporter. Moody, the once-doubted third-round pick, answered the bell with ice in his veins, drilling kicks that mattered when they mattered most. Senior, the vocal critic, owned his overreaction with a public concession that resonated precisely because it was so stark.
It was a preseason game, yes, but it carried the weight of validation for Moody and served a potent reminder: in the NFL, fortunes and opinions can change with one swing of the leg.
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