Sports

Commanders cut K Matt Gay after 2 misses, including potential game-winner in loss Dolphins

Matt Gay reacts after missing a potential game-winning field goal against the Dolphins on Sunday.
Matt Gay reacts after missing a potential game-winning field goal against the Dolphins on Sunday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS

After missing two field goals in Sunday's 16-13 loss to the Miami Dolphins in Madrid, Washington Commanders kicker Matt Gay is out of a job. 

The Commanders announced on Monday that they have released Gay. They signed kicker Jake Moody off the Chicago Bears' practice squad shortly after Gay's release, NFL Network reports.

Gay missed a 51-yard attempt in the second quarter against Miami that would have tied the game at 6. He then missed a go-ahead 56-yard attempt with 10 seconds remaining in regulation. 

A made field goal would have given the Commanders a 16-13 lead. Instead, the game went to overtime, and the Dolphins secured a 16-13 win.

Gay is a seven-year NFL veteran and former Pro Bowler with the Rams who won a Super Bowl with Los Angeles after the 2022 season. This season was his first with the Commanders and the worst of his career. 

Gay connected on 13 of 19 field goal attempts for Washington, including a 2-for-4 effort against the Dolphins. His 68.4% success rate was the worst of his career after he posted an 80.5% success rate or better on field goals in each of the previous five season. He made 32 out of 34 attempts for a career-high 94.1% success rate during his 2021 Pro Bowl campaign. 

Moody, 25, has completed 76.1% of his field goals in 34 games across three seasons with the 49ers and Bears. 

Sunday's loss was the sixth straight for the Commanders, who dropped to 3-8. They've now played five games without Pro Bowl quarterback Jayden Daniels, due to multiple injuries. They have a bye this week and will host the Denver Broncos in Week 13. 

Dalton Kincaid, four WRs on Bills' estimated injury report

The Bills have a lengthy injury report on Monday, a day after beating the Buccaneers 44-32.

They did not practice, holding only a walk-through, but list 16 players on their report.

Tight end Dalton Kincaid, who has missed the past two games with a hamstring injury, remained listed as a non-participant. He has 29 catches for 448 yards and four touchdowns this season.

Wide receivers Khalil Shakir (personal), Curtis Samuel (elbow/neck) and Mecole Hardman (calf) also missed the walk-through. Defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis (shoulder) was the other player listed as DNP.

Cornerback Christian Benford (groin), linebacker Terrel Bernard (ankle), defensive end Joey Bosa (wrist), cornerback Taron Johnson (groin), defensive tackle DaQuan Jones (rest), center Connor McGovern (ankle), wide receiver Joshua Palmer (knee/ankle), defensive tackle Jordan Phillips (wrist), safety Jordan Poyer (rest) and linebacker Dorian Williams (groin) were estimated as limited.

NFL leaves Broncos-Commanders in prime-time for Week 13

The Broncos have won eight games in a row. The Commanders have lost five in a row. With both teams on a bye, those streaks will next be on the line in prime time.

Via Nicki Jhabvala of TheAthletic.com, the Week 13 Broncos-Commanders game will remain on Sunday Night Football.

The Commanders currently don't have starting quarterback Jayden Daniels, who suffered a dislocated elbow during Washington's most recent Sunday night game, in Week 9. If he doesn't play, it will be an Oregon quarterback reunion game, with Bo Nix facing Marcus Mariota.

It will be the fifth night game, and sixth standalone game, for the Commanders in 2025. So far, they have lost every one — in Week 2 at Green Bay on Thursday night, Week 6 vs. the Bears on Monday night, Week 8 at the Chiefs on Monday night, Week 9 vs. the Seahawks on Sunday night, and Week 11 vs. the Dolphins in Madrid on Sunday morning.

All flex, and non-flex, decisions are made by the NFL. With three Thursday games on Thanksgiving and a Black Friday game, there were fewer available options than usual for the Week 13 Sunday night game. The three most viable possibilities, in theory, were Rams-Panthers, Texans-Colts, and Vikings-Seahawks.

Different rules limit the league's options, from the CBS/Fox ability to protect certain games to the requirement that one of every team's home-and-home division rivalries land on a Sunday afternoon. With the Colts and Texans playing again in Week 18, moving their first meeting to Sunday night would presumably exclude the rematch from sliding to Saturday night or Sunday night.

There's a third rail lurking, which I'm not currently interested in jumping on with both feet, given that Broncos-Commanders is an NBC game. That said, the league says every May that teams with few night games on the original schedule will have the ability to play their way into prime time.

Which means that teams with a heavy prime-time slate have the ability to play their way out of prime time.

If any team has done that this year, it's the Washington Commanders.

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