PHILADELPHIA – Ahead of the Saturday’s NFC divisional round game against the Giants, the Eagles have been accused of cheating on field goals and extra points, but on Wednesday, Eagles kicker Jake Elliott they are in the clear and have spoken to the league about the allegations.
The Eagles were accused of cheating on at least one extra point during their Week 14 game against the Giants at MetLife Stadium in a 48-22 win — allegedly using a small, white foreign object to help them with kicks.
According to Football Zebras, in a notice to game officials, holder Arryn Siposs, was suspected of using an object — as small as a coin — to spot the ball and lift it slightly off the ground. Using any object, no matter the size, is against the rules.
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“We’ve always used something that’s within the rules,” Elliott said. “It’s just literally to mark the spot. It’s part of the playing surface, like a piece of grass or something like that.”
The NFL’s memo would seem to indicate it wasn’t a piece of grass, and Football Zebras cited a video that showed the Eagles’ holder picking up the object after the kick.
Elliott said the league always has its points of emphasis for officiating, and the item in question was brought up nearly five weeks ago. Elliott said the team spoke with the league.
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“When we talked to them, we explained what we’re doing, and they saw what we were doing,” Elliott said. “Probably 30 teams do it around the league. It’s just a point of emphasis, and someone makes it bigger than it is. Everything we’ve done has been completely legal.”
Elliott is in the midst of one of his better seasons: He has made 20 of his 23 field goals attempts, an 87% conversion rate that is the second-best of his career. He has made five of his six attempts from beyond 50 yards and has converted 51 of his 53 extra-point attempts.
With his five field goals against the Giants in the regular season finale, he earned the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week award.
“Those awards are what they are, and it depends on what everyone else does around the league, so I don’t take that too seriously,” he said. “It’ll be one of those things after my career is over, and I’ll look back and say that it was a pretty cool accomplishment. It was fun to finally get out there and have a bunch of opportunities to knock the ball through and have some confidence going into the postseason.��
Elliott has kicked well in the postseason, making all 11 of his field-goal attempts. He knows this game could come down to a last-second field-goal attempt.
“Those games are going to get a little bit tighter, so each kick is going to be a little bit more,” Elliott said. “Luckily, I had the opportunity early in my career to get a lot of that experience, so I’ve been through it, and I know what it’s like. I know what mindset to have going forward, and I look forward to another opportunity.”
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