Phil Dawson has been one of the great stories of the 2016 season for the 49ers. He made his landmark 400th career field goal and Chip Kelly has been effusive about his professionalism and knowledge. When the 49ers offense has been inept, Dawson has been the point scorer.
Unfortunately, everyone has an off day and that day for Dawson was when the team faced the Jets. His first miss looked like it was headed straight through for the score but it hooked to the left at the goal line and went wide of the uprights. His second miss Dawson says is all on him, just a plain old miss. Not a good scenario when the team has needed every point it could get this season.
Dawson also supported Chip Kelly’s decision to go for it on fourth and one in overtime. A field goal at that point wouldn’t have won the game and a miss would have given the Jets good field position.
Here is his full transcript:
I know those were chip shots, but we’re not used to seeing you miss a couple in a game. Was there any factor going on that was hard to see?
The first one, I’ve got to chalk it up to Levi’s Stadium. It just got me. I wasn’t expecting it to do what it did in the air. The second one was totally on me. The third one I actually hit pretty good. That kind of sums up the day.
Did the wind catch the first kick?
Yeah, it was going right down the middle and took a hard left turn right around the goal line. I wasn’t expecting that. I don’t really know what to do about that one. The second one, that’s like I said, 100 percent on me. That was a missed field goal by me. No explanation, nothing like that.
These are obviously all tough losses but how much does this one hurt? It seemed like it was there for the taking.
They all hurt. You put so much into each and every week and when you don’t get the results you want, it’s frustrating. We get paid to come to work each and every week so we’ll reboot it and get back at it tomorrow.
We don’t normally surround you after you make field goals but we’re all over you now. Is this just part of the job?
Yeah, this is it. It’s the life. It’s why I used to have hair and now I don’t. Every time you go out on the field you need to make the kick and today I didn’t do that.
I know it wasn’t your call whether to go for a first down, field goal, or punt but what was going through your mind in overtime at about the 36-yard line?
I was just trying to be ready. I totally agree with the decision. If that was the game winner, maybe it’s a little different. Given that in overtime, even if we make it they’re going to get the ball, it’s a low percentage kick. If we miss it, they’re about two first downs away from being able to get in scoring range. I totally support the call and I obviously had my hands full trying to handle my own business today, so I was just trying to be ready in case they decided to kick that.
You determine your range in warmups. What was your range heading north?
Today was one of those days that whatever I determined in pregame changed throughout the course of the day. It was a little bit of a sneaky day. Sometimes the windier days are almost a little easier because it’s pretty obvious what the wind is doing. Today, that wasn’t the case. It would blow a little bit here and then it would be the opposite. It would be one way and then the other.