Seahawks kicker sets franchise record for distance, drills NFL’s first field goal of 2020 longer than 60 yards

Through the first nine weeks of the 2020 NFL season, no kicker had made a field goal from more than 60 yards out, but that changed on Sunday when Seattle’s Jason Myers drilled a 61-yard kick just before halftime against the Rams. 

With two seconds left in the second quarter and Seattle sitting at the Rams’ 43-yard line, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had two options for the final play of the half: He could send out Russell Wilson for a Hail Mary or he could send out Myers for a 61-yard field goal attempt. 

Carroll went with option two and Myers made the gamble pay off by absolutely drilling a 61-yard kick that cut the Rams’ lead to 17-13. 

Any time a kicker hits a field goal from more than 60 yards, it’s a big deal, and that’s because they’re so rare. The kick by Myers marked just the 17th time in NFL history that someone has a made a field from 61 yards or more. 

Since the start of the 2016 season, only four other kickers have connected from 60 or more yards with Graham Gano, Stephen Gostkowski, Brett Maher and Jake Elliott all having accomplished the feat (Maher has actually done it three times, which is an NFL record). 

The kick by Myers set a franchise record for the Seahawks. Before Sunday, the longest field in team history was 58 yards and it had been done twice, with one of the kicks coming from Stephen Hauschka in 2014 and the other from Josh Brown in 2003. 

Not only was Myers’ field goal the longest in team history, but it was also the longest field in the NFL this year. Before Week 10, no kicker in the NFL had even hit a 60-yarder. Prior to Myers’ kick, the longest field goal of the year was 59 yards, which had been done multiple times, including by Lions kicker Matt Prater on Sunday. 

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