Kurtenbach: An act of mercy it's time (again) for the 49ers to cut kicker Jake Moody

"After the Niners' last preseason game, I used this very space to publicly excoriate John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan for keeping kicker Jake Moody on the roster. Clearly, it didn't land. They went into the season with Moody. How'd that work out? I, like so many of you, foresaw what was going to happen if the Niners stayed on course. And it looked an awful lot like Sunday's season debut."

"But Moody's missed chip-shot field goal changed the entire tenor of the game. You pair that with the bad kickoffs and the generally woeful special teams play, and the decision is a no-brainer: the Niners need to make a change at kicker. Because it's undeniable that any other NFL kicker, if he had only made 12 of his last 21 kicks, would be out of a job right now. Why is Moody an exception? It's not personal. It's business."

Jake Moody missed a chip-shot field goal that shifted the tone of the 49ers' season opener despite the team not losing. The team also produced bad kickoffs and generally poor special teams play. Moody made only 12 of his last 21 kicks, a rate that would cost most NFL kickers their jobs. San Francisco used a third-round draft pick on Moody expecting a long-term starter. Team executives John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have retained Moody, delaying roster action and appearing unwilling to admit the mistake. Shanahan postponed public critique to evaluate the situation after the game.

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