49ers kicker David Akers missed another field goal on Sunday night, dropping him to 25-of-35 on field goal attempts so far this season.
That’s the lowest percentage of makes for Akers in his career and it has become a problem for the 49ers. They looked at a few kickers last month and said that Akers had a pelvis injury that was hindering him, but coach Jim Harbaugh made no mention of injury when talking about Akers’ latest miss.
“Specialists sometimes only get four or five opportunities a game, and you’ve got to make the play,” Harbaugh said, via the San Francisco Chronicle. “You’ve got to see him do it, got to see him make those plays.”
Harbaugh said Monday that the team isn’t making a change “at this time” and you have to wonder how much more rope Akers will get. There are just two games left in the regular season, which doesn’t leave you much time to find someone else in the event you decide to pull the plug on Akers.
With Mason Crosby also struggling right now, two of the top contenders in the NFC could enter the playoffs without much confidence in their kickers. Given how often playoff games can turn on a field goal, that’s a big risk to take if neither team decides to go in another direction for their biggest games of the season.