The 49ers have two weeks before their next game, which gives them ample time to figure out what to do about their kicker.
David Akers missed two field goal attempts in the first half of the game, from 44 and 40 yards, to continue an awful season for someone who has long been one of the league’s most reliable kickers. Akers missed at least one field goal in six of the team’s final eight games this season and ends the regular season with a conversion rate of just 69 percent on field goals for the year.
That’s the lowest of his career as a full-time kicker and it has prompted repeated questions about whether the 49ers would look to replace Akers. They’ve looked at others in tryouts, but coach Jim Harbaugh has stuck with Akers each time. He was asked if he’ll replace Akers this time after Sunday’s 27-13 win and committed to nothing other than a concise description of Akers’ job.
“I don’t know if we have to,” Harbaugh said, via the San Francisco Chronicle. “We’ll evaluate the position. It’s his job to make the field goals.”
While you’re not going to find a kicker with more postseason success or experience than Akers at this point in the season, the 49ers have given him plenty of chances to get back into the groove and it hasn’t happened. We’ll see if the prospect of their slumping kicker facing a big kick in a playoff game will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.