One of the biggest concerns for the Washington Commanders looks to still be relevant after first showing in the preseason

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Josh Taylor | Last updated Aug 9, 2025 6:59 AM ET

The Washington Commanders are still dealing with a roller coaster ride with one of the most important positions on the team when it comes to close situations and winning games. We thought the problem was fixed early in training camp, but the latest practices showed that this was coming in the first preseason game.

The Commanders rotated through seven kickers all of last season, and they could've won more games if they had a reliable answer, and I'm not sure they have one yet based on the preseason game vs the New England Patriots.

Buckle up for a stressful situation

Commanders fans have stressed over the kicker position for a long time, and last season was one of the more stressful seasons. Adam Peters got aggressive and signed free agent kicker Matt Gay to the highest guaranteed one-year deal for a kicker ever at $4.25 guaranteed. The expectations are now high that he comes in and delivers this season, but he's off to a rough start.

Gay missed his first kick from 49 yards that went wide left on his first attempt as a Commander. He did bounce back and make a field goal from 37 yards out, but that should be expected from a veteran. The issue is that he's 11 for 22 from 50 yards or more in his last two seasons, and he already missed from 49.

He started training camp looking flawless in kicking drills, but he started to go downhill over the last few practices, and it foreshadowed how the preseason game would go.

It’s safe to say that the @Commanders are going to have to bring in some competition for K Matt Gay. He’s really struggling at this point. He missed 6 out of his last 10 attempts in practice and then a 49 yarder on his first attempt tonight. #NFL #RaiseHail
— Lake Lewis Jr (@LakeLewisJr) August 8, 2025

Kickers need to be in a rhythm, and right now, he's in a slump, and that's the last thing you want to see before the season starts. Luckily, this is just the first preseason game, and there's still time to fix everything. The downside is that he's simply just missing the kicks; it's not a bad snap and hold or anything like that, so it's on him.

Will the Commanders take advantage of the time left until the season starts and at least bring in competition to light a fire under Gay and possibly save the position? There will also be many other options opening up when other kicking competitions around the league start to settle out, so maybe the answer isn't available yet.

The best-case scenario, though, would be Gay getting out of this slump and showing that the Commanders made the right choice by giving him a fully guaranteed deal. Starting your preseason going one for two with a miss from 49 yards isn't the best first impression to the coaches or the fan base.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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