Believe it or not, there’s a downside to hitting a clutch 54-yard walk-off field goal in overtime.
Jake Elliott learned that on Sunday.
After his heroic moment — a field goal to give the Eagles a 34-31 overtime win over the Commanders — the Eagles began to celebrate. And that’s when 6-foot-8, 365-pound Jordan Mailata picked up Elliott like a toddler in celebration and held him toward the sky.
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“Scary. Scary,” Elliott said. “You ever see The Longest Yard scene where they pick him up? Yeah…”
Getting lifted by Mailata after the game might have been the only time Elliott felt any nerves on Sunday.
Because he wasn’t nervous when he made the first three field goals against the Commanders. He wasn’t nervous late in the fourth quarter when he thought the game might come down to one kick off his foot.
And he wasn’t even nervous as he lined up for that 54-yard game-winner in OT.
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Those are the moments Elliott lives for.
“It’s something I’ve been doing my whole life,” Elliott said. “I love it when those situations come down to me. I always have. In tennis growing up, in baseball being the last batter, whatever it may be. It’s kind of just something I’ve always done and always felt real comfortable in. For whatever reason, I just really love those situations.”
Elliott, 28, made all four of his field goals on Sunday — from 41, 47, 36, 54 — against the Commanders and has now made 13 of 14 on the season. He’s also 4 for 5 from 50+ in 2023.
In his career, Elliott is 10 for 16 on attempts from 54+ yards and has made 6 of his last 7 from that distance.
From the moment Elliott arrived in Philly during the 2017 season, he’s been an absolute weapon for the Eagles. In his postgame victory speech to his team on Sunday evening, head coach Nick Sirianni didn’t hesitate.
Everyone knew where the game ball was going.
“That was a sweet way to win,” Sirianni said. “Man, Jake Elliott — I talked about Jalen (Hurts) being clutch, Jake Elliott is so clutch. I don't watch field goals. I don't know why. I don't watch it.
“I look at Coach (Michael) Clay, he points at me or gives me one of these (looks) if we miss. I was looking at him and he hit me with that (thumbs up). And I don't know if I was really even that surprised. Jake's just clutch.”
In overtime, the Eagles picked that direction — toward the closed side of the stadium — for a reason. Elliott said his range to that side was about 58 or 59, so distance wasn’t an issue. He just had to strike it right and he did.
Coming into Sunday’s game, Elliott was already the Eagles’ career leader in 50+ yard field goals. He now has 23 in his NFL career.
"Jake’s a beast. Jake’s a beast, man," Mailata said. "To make a kick like that when we need it most, I wish I was him right now."
Elliott mentioned that when the Eagles began to drive in the fourth quarter, he started to realize the game could come down to him. While Elliott said he was “really zoning in” at that point, his teammates couldn’t tell.
He always seems zoned in.
New punter and holder Braden Mann has been with Elliott for just two games but said he didn’t notice any kind of change in overtime.
“Exact same. You would never know,” Mann said. “If you had a camera on him the entire game, you would never know the situation, how long the field goal is going to be, you would never know any of it. That gives everybody near him a ton of confidence. If he’s not nervous, nobody else should be.”
It’s clear just how much respect his Eagles teammates have for Elliott.
"Chicken Little, what he can't do?" said Eagles star receiver DeVonta Smith, who said he calls Elliott that because he thinks the kicker looks like Chicken Little. (Elliott, by the way, isn't a fan of that nickname.)
"I mean, we always have faith in Jake, man," Smith said. "Once I caught the last pass, I already knew."
As the kicker began answering some questions for reporters in the locker room, Darius Slay walked up behind and told Elliott that he’s the second best athlete on the team — behind Slay, of course. High praise for Elliott, but he deserves it.
“Jake, he showed up big-time,” Jalen Hurts said.
It seems like he always does.
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