49ers look at kickers after Akers struggles again

Posted by Josh Alper on November 28, 2012, 9:17 AM EST
Reuters

In 2011, 49ers kicker David Akers couldn’t do much wrong.

He set NFL records for most field goals and most points by a kicker in a single season and broke Jerry Rice’s team record for points by any player in a season. He made the Pro Bowl and it looked like things were on track for another strong year this year when he tied another NFL record with a 63-yard field goal early this season.

Things have taken a bumpy turn for Akers since then, however. He’s hit on 19-of-27 field goals this season and he’s missed multiple field goals in a game on three different occasions, including Sunday’s 31-21 win over the Saints. He also missed a field goal in overtime of the 49ers’ recent tie with the Rams. The struggles are enough for the 49ers to check out other options in the event they decide to make a change at kicker in the coming weeks.

Howard Balzer of the Sports Xchange reports that the team had Billy Cundiff and Nate Kaeding in for tryouts on Tuesday. Cundiff was released by the Redskins earlier this year and Kaeding was bounced from San Diego after missing time with a groin injury.

Neither man signed immediately, which means Akers hasn’t run out of chances in San Francisco just yet.

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8 responses to “49ers look at kickers after Akers struggles again”

  1. His years with the Eagles are finally showing on him. He fought it off for a while, but eventually the loser-itis overcame him.

  3. LOL that’s very funny. He’s in a funk and needs to work through it but not at the 9ers expense. The Chicago game should have been 37-21 Rams game would have been 27-24

  5. Akers has had a rough year, but he set the record for most field goals last year, and this year he tied the NFL record for longest kick with that 60+ bomb in the first few weeks. I hope they just tried out a couple kickers to scare him back into shape.

  6. We relied a lot on Akers last year and the defense to keep us in games that added to the 13-3 record. This year, the defense is not scoring like last year (though still great) and Akers has obviously lost the magic touch he found last year after Philly gave up on him. We got the most out of him. But time to look for more consistency while giving Akers a few more chances to redeem himself.

    But this is all the more reason we need more production from the offense. For me, that means starting Kaepernick.

  7. 49’ers are in the same boat as the Texans….play-off bound teams that can’t trust their kickers. Not a good thing, when 3 points can mean the difference between watching the Super Bowl and playing in it. The problem is there aren’t that many free agent kickers who would be any better.

  8. sixjak says:
    Nov 28, 2012 10:48 AM
    LOL that’s very funny. He’s in a funk and needs to work through it but not at the 9ers expense. The Chicago game should have been 37-21 Rams game would have been 27-24

    ————–

    Are you saying the Bears should have 2 more TD’s in that game? What gives??

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