Jake Elliott can be relieved this was just a preseason game. After having some unusual problems—he missed important kicks by hitting both uprights—his teammates gave him another chance.
Elliott made a 49-yard field goal with no time left to give the Philadelphia Eagles a 16-13 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Friday night. He had missed an extra point off the left upright in the first quarter, and his 50-yard kick hit the right upright with 16 seconds remaining.
But then, Baltimore quarterback Emory Jones, who had just come into the game, was sacked and fumbled on the next play. Patrick Johnson recovered the fumble and gave Elliott another chance.
“That was lucky,” Elliott said. “Obviously, not the type of game you want.”
At nearly the same spot where he had missed before, Elliott made the kick this time to win the game.
“Hopefully, we got those out of our way, but our operation and Jake Elliott, I’m so confident,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “I was glad he got another opportunity, and I have no doubt that he’ll be even better because of some of the adversity he went through today.”
Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts were both rested, and quarterbacks Josh Johnson of the Ravens and Kenny Pickett of the Eagles didn’t manage to score much when they were on the field.
Towards the end, it was Baltimore rookie Devin Leary versus Tanner McKee, and Leary tied the game at 13 with a fourth-down sneak from the 1-yard line with 5:46 left to play.
But after Elliott’s missed field goal, the Ravens put Jones in, and that turned out to be a problem.
“He feels bad about it, but he’s just starting out,” Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said. “The speed of this game’s a little different. Going in there that first snap, that’s a tough situation to be in. He’ll learn from it. He’ll be fine. It’s preseason.”
After winning a record 24 preseason games in a row, Baltimore has now lost three straight.
Baltimore’s Justin Tucker started the scoring with a 46-yard field goal in the first quarter, but the Eagles responded with a 15-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Pickett’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Will Shipley. Elliott missed the extra point.
