SANTA CLARA — The 49ers won the NFC championship with a pair of three-point victories, and while rookie kicker Jake Moody was far from perfect, but he did enough to contribute important kicks to account for the winning margins against Green Bay and Detroit.
The margin for error becomes even smaller in Super Bowl LVIII when the 49ers face the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Feb. 11.
“I think he’s ready for the moment,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said of Moody.
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The 49ers selected Moody with a compensatory pick at the end of the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft to replace reliable veteran Robbie Gould.
Gould remained unsigned late in the season and announced his retirement on Dec. 7, one day after he turned 41.
Gould was steady during his six seasons with the 49ers and concluded his career 29-for-29 on field-goal attempts in his 16-game postseason career.
Moody had a solid first season, making 21 of 25 field-goal attempts and missing one extra point in the regular season. One of his misses came on a 41-yard attempt in Cleveland on a kick that could have given the 49ers a one-point victory in Week 6.
San Francisco 49ers
“(We have) a lot of confidence in Jake,” Lynch said. “A lot of people want to talk about some challenges that he’s had, but I like to look at how he responds to those. And he’s very steady. He really is.”
Moody had a 48-yard attempt blocked at the end of the first half against the Packers in the divisional round of the playoffs. But his 52-yarder on the first play of the fourth quarter moved the 49ers to within four points. San Francisco ended up scoring a late touchdown for a 24-21 victory.
He missed from 48 yards last week against the Lions, but later made important kicks of 43 and 33 yards in the 49ers' 34-31 win in the NFC Championship Game.
Lynch said he is proud of the season Moody put together while coming into a pressure-packed situation on a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
Lynch said Moody's steady demeanor gives him confidence he can perform when the pressure is at its greatest.
“We felt very convicted then to go take a third-round (pick) on a kicker,” Lynch said. “We did have three picks and (it was) something we needed. We had a lot of confidence in Jake and we still have a lot of confidence in Jake because we see him day-in and day-out.”