Breaking Records, Jason Myers Flourishes in Second Season With Seahawks
Coming off a Pro Bowl season with the Jets in 2018, the Seahawks aimed to rectify their mistake of choosing Sebastian Janikowski over Jason Myers during the prior training camp, signing the veteran kicker to a four-year contract worth up to $15.5 million at the start of free agency.
At the time, the deal to bring back Myers seemed like a reasonable one for a Seattle franchise that had struggled to find a quality long-term kicking option after allowing Stephen Hauschka to leave as a free agent two years earlier. Blair Walsh missed several notable kicks that prevented the team from reaching the playoffs in 2017 and an aging Janikowski dealt with injuries in his lone season with the team.
But during the first half of the 2019 season, the decision to pay Myers $7 million guaranteed and make him one of the 10 highest paid kickers in the league started to look like a ill-fated move. He opened the season making just 12 out of 17 field goal attempts - just 70.6 percent - including missing a pair of field goals in an eventual overtime win over the Buccaneers.
Luckily for Seattle, Myers simply needed a confidence booster to rediscover his 2018 form and coach Pete Carroll remained supportive of him throughout his struggles. One week after nearly costing his team a victory against Tampa Bay with a miss at the end of regulation, he came through with a game-winning field goal in overtime to send San Francisco its first defeat of the season.
Since that point, Myers has been near-flawless for the Seahawks. Over the final seven games of the regular season, he went a perfect 11 for 11 on field goal attempts. While he did miss two attempts in the playoffs, both were longer kicks attempted during road games in difficult weather conditions in Philadelphia and Green Bay.
Through 14 games this season, Myers has continued to be the most accurate kicker in the NFL. Now a perfect 20 for 20 on field goal attempts this season - making him the only kicker in the league with 20 or more attempts and no misses - he surpassed Olindo Mare's previous franchise record of 30 consecutive field goals made by splitting the uprights twice in a 20-15 win over Washington in Week 15.
When asked about the key for his record-breaking consistency, Myers credited being able to work with Pro Bowl long snapper Tyler Ott and holder Michael Dickson as well as the blockers up front for his extended run of success.
"First of all, Ott and Dickson and the guys in front do a tremendous job," Myers said following Sunday's win. "I know there's a lot of kickers who would love to have that operation that we have. Great snaps all day, great holds all season and last few years."
Myers also dispelled the notion some fans may hold that kickers don't invest much time working on improving their craft during the offseason, indicating his workout program paved the way for another outstanding campaign.
"I put the work in in the offseason," Myers added. "As a kicker, a lot of people don't think you work hard in the offseason, but I work hard in the gym, I work hard on the field, and that's when I like to put my work in and see it come to fruition this time of year."
Considering his rough start last year, Myers' torrid streak has now pushed his field goal percentage as a Seahawk up to 89.6 percent. He also has shown improvements in regard to leg strength, as he booted a career-high 61 yard field goal earlier this season.
While he hasn't been perfect on extra point opportunities, Myers has also enjoyed the best season of his career in that regard. In six NFL seasons, he has missed 22 extra points on 213 attempts, converting on less than 90 percent of those kicks. This season, however, he's actually been more accurate on PAT attempts than at any other time in his career, making 45 out of 48 for a 93 percent conversion rate.
"He's a terrific athlete. He's really got all the exact kind of flexibility and explosion that a guy needs," Carroll told reporters on Monday. "But it's really about, [at] this position, his work ethic and habits and the mentality of course. He's a great competitor at the spot and we're lucky to have him. He's definitely on a roll, he's doing great."
As the team approaches the playoffs with hopes of making a deep run in January, the Seahawks should be thankful to have Myers, who has proven to be as reliable and consistent as any kicker in the NFL. His presence on one of the league's premier special teams units could be the difference maker between another early exit and advancing past the Divisional Round for the first time since 2014.
