The San Francisco 49ers’ gameplan was dealt a curveball Sunday when kicker Jake Moody suffered a a high right-ankle sprain on a kickoff in the second quarter against the Arizona Cardinals. Punter Mitch Wishnowsky took over kicking duties after Moody was ruled out.
Wishnowsky, who was 0-for-1 in career field goal attempts and two-for-four PATs entering Sunday, hit a 26-yard field goal at the end of the second quarter, putting the 49ers up 23-10. San Francisco would go on to lose 24-23.
Wishnowsky’s duty as holder fell on the broad shoulders of fullback Kyle Juszczyk, who was also seen warming up his leg and kicking balls into a net on the sideline after Moody’s injury.
Alright mate! Mitch Wishnowsky’s first career FG 🙌
📺 #AZvsSF on FOX
NFL+ // https://t.co/KTh0i4nCVJ pic.twitter.com/gsk60LBQMU— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) October 6, 2024
Moody, who is 13-of-14 on field goal attempts this season, was injured when he tried to make a stop on kick returner DeeJay Dallas’ 39-yard return.
Moody’s injury occurred just after a rare special teams triumph for the 49ers — a blocked field goal that Deommodore Lenoir returned for a 61-yard touchdown. It may have been more luck than anything. Defensive tackle Jordan Elliott raised his right hand at just the right moment and struck down Chad Ryland’s 45-yard attempt.
For the most part, special teams have been disastrous for the 49ers this season with a blocked punt, a fake punt, a consequential punt return and a fumbled kickoff all occurring to their detriment in the last three games. Moody’s injury adds to that list of issues.
#49ers Kicker Jake Moody was able to walk off the field on his own after suffering an apparent injury on the previous play 🙏 pic.twitter.com/cpPgW1NRU2
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 6, 2024
The dynamic kickoff made its debut this season. The new kickoff was designed to revive the excitement of plays in the return game, while also decreasing the risk of injury with fewer high-speed collisions while reducing touchbacks.
The new kickoff sees 10 players on the kicking team (all but the kicker) line up at the opposing 40-yard line, while the return will have at least nine players lined up between their 30- and 35-yard lines — seven of those players have to be touching the 35-yard line. The kicker, who kicks from his team’s 35-yard line, and the two returners are the only players allowed to move until a returner touches the ball or the ball hits the ground in the “landing zone.”
This area of the field is considered to be the receiving team’s goal line and its 20-yard line. Any kick that lands there must be returned. If the ball touches down in the landing zone and rolls into the end zone, the receiving team must either return it or down the ball for a touchback.
One of the risks of the dynamic kickoff is that kickers are more involved in tackles, as evidenced by what happened to Moody on Sunday. Some teams had experimented with using non-kickers on kickoffs to keep them out of harms way.
(Photo: Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
