{"id":358996,"date":"2025-09-11T08:19:27","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T08:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/358996\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T08:19:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T08:19:27","slug":"49ers-nearly-lost-jake-moody-replacement-to-falcons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/358996\/","title":{"rendered":"49ers nearly lost Jake Moody replacement to Falcons"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post 49ers nearly lost Jake Moody replacement to Falcons<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The San Francisco 49ers<\/a> made their long-anticipated move at kicker this week, parting ways with former third-round pick Jake Moody<\/a> and signing veteran Eddy Pi\u00f1eiro.<\/a> But as Pi\u00f1eiro revealed Wednesday, the Niners were close to missing out<\/a> on their new leg entirely.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s been a crazy week,\u201d Pi\u00f1eiro told reporters after signing. \u201cI was supposed to leave to Atlanta yesterday until I got the call to come over here, and I took the opportunity and didn\u2019t look back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pi\u00f1eiro said he chose San Francisco over the Falcons because of the franchise\u2019s culture and championship aspirations. \u201cI want to win games. I want to be a part of a good culture and in my eighth year of my career, I want to win,\u201d he said. The choice makes sense\u2014since 2019, Pi\u00f1eiro has carved out a reputation<\/a> as one of the NFL\u2019s most accurate kickers, and the 49ers have been perennial contenders, reaching four NFC Championship Games in the last six years.<\/p>\n

San Francisco\u2019s patience with Moody ran out after Week 1. In the 49ers\u2019 17-13 win over the Seahawks, the former Michigan standout went 1-for-3 on field goals, including a 27-yarder that clanged off the upright and a 36-yard attempt that was blocked. Fox cameras caught sideline frustration, with players tossing helmets after the misses.<\/p>\n

49ers find their new kicker after parting ways with Jake Moody\"Joe<\/p>\n

Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Head coach Kyle Shanahan initially backed his young kicker, saying there was \u201cno question\u201d Moody would remain the starter. But by Monday, Shanahan admitted the team was weighing its options, and by Tuesday, the 49ers announced Moody\u2019s release.<\/p>\n

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Moody\u2019s decline was steep. After a strong rookie campaign in 2023 (21-for-24 on field goals, 60-for-61 on PATs), his accuracy cratered. He connected on just 70.6% of his kicks in 2024, including a brutal 50% from beyond 40 yards. Overall, his 74.2% career field goal rate pales in comparison to Pi\u00f1eiro\u2019s career mark of 88.1%, which ranks third among active kickers.<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old Pi\u00f1eiro, now wearing No. 18, has logged five NFL seasons across stints with the Bears, Jets, and Panthers. He\u2019s been remarkably steady, ranking as the fourth-most accurate kicker in league history. His absence from a roster this summer puzzled many, but Pi\u00f1eiro explained he was simply waiting for the right fit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just wanted the right opportunity, and thank God this opportunity came up and this is what I wanted,\u201d Pi\u00f1eiro said.<\/p>\n

For San Francisco, the move signals a pivot from developmental patience to win-now urgency. The 49ers\u2019 roster remains loaded despite early injuries, and special teams miscues are a luxury a championship contender can\u2019t afford.<\/p>\n

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Pi\u00f1eiro understands the stakes. \u201cAt the end of the day you just got to make kicks, and I know if I don\u2019t make kicks, I\u2019ll be out of here,\u201d he said. The 49ers nearly lost their new kicker to the Falcons, but instead, they land a proven veteran who could stabilize one of the roster\u2019s weakest links. Now it\u2019s on Pi\u00f1eiro to make the most of his shot in San Francisco.<\/p>\n

Related: 49ers work out former Jets, Bills QB amid Brock Purdy injury<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Saints rumors: New Orleans preparing for Mac Jones amid Brock Purdy injury<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The post 49ers nearly lost Jake Moody replacement to Falcons appeared first on ClutchPoints. The San Francisco 49ers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358997,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2074],"tags":[220,223,254,2554,374,10124,224,7,7370,2812,6,1161,252,238],"class_list":{"0":"post-358996","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-falcons","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-atlanta","10":"tag-atlanta-falcons","11":"tag-atlantafalcons","12":"tag-bears","13":"tag-eddy-pineiro","14":"tag-falcons","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-jake-moody","17":"tag-kyle-shanahan","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-san-francisco","20":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","21":"tag-seahawks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115184688927326643","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}