The play of an NFL squad on special teams can often be the difference between victory and defeat. The Seattle Seahawks know that better than most teams, investing in both their return specialist and placekicker. Now, they’ll surely look towards that unit to make an impact in Super Bowl 60 when they take on the New England Patriots on Sunday.
The Seahawks earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC behind one of the league’s highest-scoring offenses. Contributions on special teams are often underrated by fans, but Myers played a major role in that leap. The 11-year-veteran finished the regular season with 41 made field goals, the second-most of any NFL kicker behind only Ka’imi Fairbairn of the Houston Texans’ 44 made attempts.
Now, the question is whether Myers can keep producing at such an elite level on the biggest stage. It’s one thing to boot a pigskin between the uprights on any given Sunday, but it’s an entirely different ask to hit a field goal from 50+ yards in the biggest game of one’s career. Super Bowl 60 marks the first championship appearance of Myers’ career, so the pressure is on. Beyond that, the Patriots’ defense is among the best in the league with 17.3 points per game allowed, the second-fewest of any team. If any unit can slow down Seattle’s own offense, this is one of them.
So, can Myers make at least two field goals in Super Bowl 60?
DraftKings Sportsbook sets Myers’ O/U line on made field goals at 1.5, listing it with -195 odds on the over and +151 odds on the under. Let’s dive in a little further to take a look at what the numbers suggest.
This season, Myers attempted at least two field goals in 15 of his 19 contests. His 48 attempts in the regular season led the NFL, good for an average of 2.82 attempts per contest. Over the playoffs thus far, he tried two field goals in the Divisional Round and just one in the NFC Championship Game. That brings his grand total to 2.68 field goal attempts per outing on the full sample.
Beyond the fairly high volume, Myers’ leg has been pretty reliable. He made 41 of his 48 attempts in the regular season, good for 85.4%. Including the postseason, his record sits at 44-for-51, resulting in a slight uptick to 86.3% on the campaign overall. While he’s not near the top of the leaderboard in terms of accuracy league-wide, he was largely lights-out from 39 yards or fewer, making 19-of-21 attempts. In the range of 40-49 yards, he went 13-for-15. From 50+ yards out, Myers went 9-for-12 as well. He gives the Seahawks exactly what they need, especially with the context of where his misses came from.
So, can Myers make multiple field goals in the Super Bowl? The odds and the data indicate that he’s more than capable, often seeing plenty of volume and making two or more attempts in 14 of his 19 outings on the full season, playoffs included.
While the Patriots allowed the second-fewest made field goals per game of any team with 1.5 this season, they’ll face a very difficult test against this high-powered Seahawks offense. It’s highly unlikely that Seattle gets entirely shut down, and even if it doesn’t reach the end zone as often as it did against weaker defense, the unit should still move the ball well enough to get into field-goal range. If nothing else, stalling out on a drive or two could even improve the outlook for Myers.
In short, taking the over on 1.5 made field goals makes sense, but I’m personally targeting 3+ makes at significantly better value of +203 odds.
