Akers feeling Koy

By Michael Rushton

You just knew it was going to come down to a field goal.

With all the hoopla made about the Eagles bringing back Koy Detmer, presumably for nothing more than to just boost David Akers' comfort level, and then Tony Romo's botched hold the previous night, Hollywood couldn't have scripted a better ending to the opening weekend of the playoffs.

So did it really matter who was holding the ball? Ignorance would say the simple process of snap, hold, and kick should be the least of a team's concerns come playoff time.

Yet, as I unnecessarily pondered all of these hours removed from watching Akers kick the Eagles into New Orleans, I started to think maybe it does.

Was it just a coincidence that Akers turned in such a poor season -- by his standards anyway -- in Dirk Johnson's first year as holder?

Last year, Akers hit on just 72.7 percent of his kicks, his lowest season percentage since he hit on just 3-of-6 attempts during his first year in Philly back in 1999, when he served as a long field goal and kickoff specialist. However, six of his seven misses last year were from 40 yards or longer. He also suffered a torn hamstring in 2005 that caused him to miss four games.

2006 wasn't shaping up much better. He ended the regular season at a 78.3 percent clip, but missed a field goal from inside 30 yards for the first time in his career. That was in addition to a pair of misses from the 30-39 yard range.

"Yeah, I've missed some kicks this year that I would have liked to have made," Akers said after the win over the Giants. "You talk to all kinds of kickers, they're going to say that. Adjusting to the new holder, snapper and all that, that makes...it's all excuses. I've got to make kicks."

So, the Eagles attempted to salvage the mental threads of their golden kicker and brought back Koy.

Did Akers maybe come off as a bit of a primadonna in a city that hates divas? Maybe, but his 38-yard game-winning kick erased any harsh feelings that may have been boiling beneath the surface.

And let's not forget, Akers made a 48-yard attempt look easy early in the game.

I challenge you to find another city that sells as many jerseys of its kicker than Philadelphia. Sure, maybe the New England area is rich with now useless Adam Vinatieri attire, but Akers has always been beloved in the City of Brotherly Love. Almost to a point where we took him for granted as automatic.

So if Akers wanted Detmer as his holder, I believe he's earned the right to make that call, even if he won't admit it.

"I think there's been some...undo criticism on Dirk a little bit, as far as his holding this year," Akers said after the game.

"Management made the decision to bring Koy in. We've had six years of actual on-field experience together and then one year where we just kind of worked together, and I just, going into the 48-yarder, I said Koy, 'I just need a little bit more lean towards you,' because the wind was coming left to right...and he knows what that little bit is."

Akers continued, "He knows those things because we've done it I mean thousands of times together so, it's great to have him out there but I'm not going to take anything away from Dirk. When he puts the ball down I have to make the kick."

Two years ago, as the Eagles embarked on a playoff run that, unknown to us at the time, ended with a Super Bowl loss, I went shopping for a fresh new jersey to wear for their first playoff game.

My now wife was also in the market for one, as she wasn't really a big football fan until I came along, and needed something to wear for all of the upcoming postseason parties we would be attending.

I figured her limited football knowledge would lead her to the McNabb section, but instead she emerged with a No. 2 jersey in hand. Of course, curiosity set in and I asked her why she had picked out an Akers jersey.

Her reply was simple. "He kicks the ball to win the game."

You can send Michael Rushton's wife flowers at rushpac@comcast.net