The Philadelphia Eagles and the Minnesota Vikings faced off on the first official Thursday Night Football game of the season. And Eagles kicker Jake Elliott stole the show at the end of the first half with an unbelievable 61-yard field goal.
The Eagles offense wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders through one half of play. Star quarterback Jalen Hurts had struggled to get much going through the air. However, their running game has been an entirely different story, attempting 28 rushes in the first half alone for 133 yards.
Philadelphia was able to spring a number of big runs at the end of the first half that set up Elliott with a very improbable 61-yard field goal chance. But Elliott, who missed a 55-yard field goal attempt earlier in the game, redeemed himself in a big way by drilling the 61-yard chance to go into the half up 13-7.
A 61-yard field goal by Eagles kicker Jake Elliott to close out the first half! 🏈🚀pic.twitter.com/FdCyekUPof
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) September 15, 2023
Plenty of teams give their kicker this type of opportunity at the end of a half to see if they can get any points on the board. But you will very rarely see many kickers making an attempt from this far out. And fans praised Elliott for doing so on Thursday night.
JAKE ELLIOTT FROM 61 YARDS 😱pic.twitter.com/zSymVh2Qz5
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) September 15, 2023
Jake Elliott.
MVP of the Eagles so far this season. pic.twitter.com/Te3yyQJQS3
— Word On The Birds (@WordOnTheBirds) September 15, 2023
Jake Elliott nails the 61 yard field goal
He has been big clutch so far
pic.twitter.com/i9h1mNG5c3— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) September 15, 2023
jake elliott just scored a touchdown's worth of fantasy points on this kick pic.twitter.com/yFYpQ5aMnM
— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLFantasy) September 15, 2023
https://twitter.com/corephilly/status/1702497758320738445
UNBELIEVABLE JAKE ELLIOTT #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/DG6GM8lAst
— JAKIB Sports (@JAKIBSports) September 15, 2023
Elliott has been fantastic for the Eagles early on this season, playing a huge role in their Week 1 win over the New England Patriots as well. He made all of his four kick attempts in that game, including multiple kicks over 50 yards in distance.