SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It turned out that the Super Bowl focus was on the wrong New York export this whole time.
While former Jets draft pick Sam Darnold’s redemption journey dominated headlines and former Giants stars Leonard Williams and Julian Love were among the most popular players all week at Super Bowl 2026, the relatively undiscussed Jason Myers was the star of the first three quarters as he kicked four field goals to account for the first 12 points.
Darnold eventually threw a touchdown pass and Love had what amounted to a game-sealing interception in the Seahawks’ 29-13 victory Sunday against the Patriots.
Kenneth Walker III did most of the heavy lifting, but Myers converted from 33, 39, 41 and 41 yards again to build a 12-0 lead and take pressure off of Darnold’s early missed opportunities on the edge of the red zone to give the Seahawks more breathing room.
Myers added a PAT and a fifth field goal (26 yards) — which broke the record for most field goals by one kicker in a Super Bowl — in the fourth quarter. The man with the name of two horror-movie killers delivered the daggers en route to a championship.
Myers spent one season with the Jets in 2018 and transformed his career from a twice-cut journeyman to a Pro Bowler by making 33-of-36 field goals, including a single-game franchise-record seven in one game.
But, when the season ended, the Jets set a price for Myers that the Seahawks were willing to top.
Myers didn’t hold a grudge that he had been released just months earlier by the Seahawks – deemed the loser of a training-camp battle against Sebastian Janikowski – and instead actually preferred to return to comfortable surroundings.
Since then, Myers has developed into one of the NFL’s longest-tenured and most-reliable kickers.
He has made 86.2 percent of his field goals over seven seasons, including 85.4 percent of a league-high 48 attempts this season.
Perhaps it was fitting that Myers accounted for such a chunk of the scoring in the same week that Adam Vinatieri – whose career is synonymous with postseason clutch moments – was selected to the Hall of Fame. Vinatieri, a former Patriot and just the third pure kicker to be enshrined, was on hand to be recognized after the first quarter.
With his fourth field goal, Myers broke the Seahawks’ single-season scoring record.
Credit: Source link
