Robbie Gould may have been snubbed as a Pro Bowl selection, but he’s getting the respect in other ways. The San Francisco 49ers kicker made the NFC Team of the month for special teams.
We usually see teams of the week, but team of the month is a bit more of a deal. Plus this isn’t by a single position. Gould is the special teams guy for the Month of December. It’s almost deja vu in a sense as Gould was named to the same honor in the month of December last year.
For December 2018 Gould was flawless. He went 11/11 on field goals and 8/8 on extra points. Those eight extra points somewhat indicate the drought of touchdowns for the 49ers (with none scored at all against the Chicago Bears), but who’s counting? The entire 2018 season was rough on kickers, yet Gould wasn’t phased at all, only missing one field goal the entire season.
Gould was selected to the Pro Bowl as an alternate in what is a somewhat head-scratching move when you consider his body of work to who will start for the NFC, Aldrick Rosas. Both share a single miss, with Gould having had on extra field goal at the time of the selection. Rosas, on the other hand, had one more extra point made.
Gould enters free agency this offseason. Given all the issues with kickers for 2018 in the league, he might have his choice of destinations. The 49ers are long removed from the days of David Akers botching simple kicks, and Gould has offered unparraled consistency with his leg, especially with the 49ers having to kick due to red zone issues.
I’m happy for Gould, but I have to echo what we thought last year around this time: We hope the 49ers are not in this position of red zone issues for 2019. While Gould has become reliable, I think we all hope the 49ers can find a way to punch the ball in more efficiently than they did in 2018 (and 2017 for that matter). With Jimmy Garoppolo and Jerick McKinnon coming back, along with the rest of that injured list, maybe the 49ers can get the red zone figured out.