The Philadelphia Eagles used to trust David Akers completely when he was their kicker. However, the former Eagles star was the most feared member of the San Francisco 49ers at the Super Bowl on Feb. 3, for all the wrong reasons. But although it looked like the Super Bowl might have come down to the shaky, banged up Akers, it didn’t -- yet the 49ers lost anyway.
Before the Superdome power went out early in the second half, Akers was the only 49er to actually score points, as the Baltimore Ravens were up by 28-6. However, after San Francisco began to come back, it looked like the game might well come down to an Akers kick. But with the Ravens up by 34-29 in the final minutes and the 49ers driving to the goal line, Akers was out of the equation.
That ultimately turned out to be a bad thing, as the 49ers were stuffed at the end and went on to a 34-31 loss. Yet even if the Ravens were only up by 31-29 or 32-29, the 49ers might have dreaded sending Akers out there to tie or win the Super Bowl. However, his only mistake came on a play that ultimately didn’t count.
Akers finally missed a field goal with the 49ers down by 28-20 in the third quarter. But a roughing the kicker penalty was called on Baltimore, which gave Akers another chance. He took advantage of it and kept the 49ers’ comeback going, yet the hit seemed to injure him.
Combined with his shaky performance all season, the hit gave San Francisco one more reason to dread a game-winning or tying kick from Akers later on. However, when the 49ers closed the deficit to 31-29 early in the fourth quarter, they went for two, but not because they didn’t trust Akers. They missed the conversion and then missed their last-minute shot at the end zone because of Colin Kaepernick, and some questionable play calls on offense.
The Eagles never gave Akers a chance to kick a field goal of any kind in the 2005 Super Bowl, let alone one to decide the game. But in Super Bowl XLVII, Akers made three field goals, made his extra points and didn’t come out of the game. He turned out to be the only perfect 49er on the field, despite all of the fear and dread surrounding him.
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