49ers kicker Jake Moody makes Super Bowl history by breaking field goal record that had stood for 30 years

The first field goal of Super Bowl LVIII was a big one and that’s because Jake Moody broke the Super Bowl record for longest field goal, a mark that had stood for 30 years. 

Moody got the chance to break the record in the second quarter after a 49ers drive stalled at Kansas City’s 37-yard line. With the 49ers facing a fourth-and-14, Kyle Shanahan made the bold decision to kick the field goal and Moody made the gamble pay off by nailing the kick. 

Moody’s field goal gave the 49ers an early 3-0 lead. 

The kick by Moody broke a record that had been previously held by Buffalo’s Steve Christie, who hit a 54-yarder in a Super Bowl XXVIII loss to the Dallas Cowboys.Since Christie’s kick, no one has even really challenged the record. Over the past 30 years, there had only even been ONE field goal attempt of 54 yards or more before Moody came along on Sunday (Seahawks kicker Josh Brown missed a 54-yard attempt in Super Bowl XL). 

Even though kicking the field goal seemed like the obvious decision, the reason Shanahan’s decision could be considered bold is because; (1.) He has a rookie kicker and (2.) All kickers seem to struggle on longer field goals in the Super Bowl. Going into Sunday, all kickers in NFL history had combined to hit just 46.7% of their field goals in the Super Bowl from 50 yards or longer. 

For Moody, the kick should give him some serious confidence going forward, especially after his recent struggles, which included at least one missed kick in his past three games. Now that Moody has made a long one, Shanahan almost certainly won’t hesitate to use him going forward. 

Moody now continues a wild trend for rookie kickers in the Super Bowl: They somehow have a lot of success no matter how good or bad they were during the regular season. 

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