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Muted preseason showing from Commanders X-factor clouds 2025 outlook

Originally posted on Riggo's Rag | By Ryan McCafferty | Last updated Aug 20, 2025 10:30 AM ET

If you were to ask anybody to name the most important players on the Washington Commanders in 2025, they would be stars such as Jayden Daniels, Terry McLaurin, and Laremy Tunsil.

Maybe some of the rookies and emerging contributors would get a mention. Players like Mike Sainristil, Josh Conerly Jr., and Trey Amos, whose development will be crucial to Washington's long-term success.

One player who probably wouldn't be brought up, but whose performance may swing his team's fate more than anybody else besides its quarterback, is Matt Gay.

Commanders still don't know what they have in Matt Gay entering preseason finale

The journeyman kicker was signed this offseason to replace Zane Gonzalez. Washington paid him the largest amount of guaranteed money on a one-year deal in NFL history at his position. Thus far, he has been inconsistent.

During Washington's Monday Night Football preseason tilt against the Cincinnati Bengals, nobody needed a trial by fire more than Gay. He didn't get one.

In Washington's preseason opener against the New England Patriots, Gay made one of two field goal attempts, hitting a 37-yarder but missing from 49 yards. He also hit his only extra point attempt in the 48-18 loss.

It would have been ideal for the Utah native to get some more practice against Cincinnati. Unfortunately, it didn't happen.

Gay only attempted one field goal, making a chip shot 27-yarder, and went 2-for-2 on extra points. On the bright side, he didn't miss anything, but that means very little. It would have been a major concern if he had. That he didn't is merely the expectation from those distances.

We're now two games into the preseason, and it's still hard to determine Gay's outlook. The six-year veteran has been successful at his other stops in the NFL, with a career field goal percentage of 85.5 while earning a Super Bowl ring with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021. But he plays what is arguably the most volatile position in professional football.

The difference between a good kicker and a bad one is extremely marginal. Variance in their performance from year to year, or even week to week, is utterly random. Simply put, the vast majority of NFL teams don't know what they're going to get when their number is called.

The best way to maximize a kicker's performance is with as much preparation as possible. Gay hasn't gotten much of it this preseason, and it's the worst thing that can happen for him and the Commanders.