Dallas Cowboys Announce Decision On Place Kicker
When I was a boy growing up in Houston, Texas, there was one rule when it came to rooting for professional football teams. You were either a Houston Oilers fan, or you were a Dallas Cowboys fan. I was a Houston Oilers fan. Consequently, I have lifelong hatred for The Dallas Cowboys. So even though I was not exactly thrilled that they won their Wild Card Playoff game against The Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night, I did take perverse pleasure at the misadventures of the team’s place kicker, Brett Maher. I’d never see a professional kicker miss four straight extra points before. Honestly, I’d never seen any kicker at any level of football miss four straight extra points. Apparently, Hall of Fame Quarterback, Peyton Manning has similar recollections.
https://twitter.com/MrMatthewCFB/status/1615174978088861696
Now, my wife grew up in the Dallas area. As such, she lives and dies with her beloved Cowboys. Oh, and she has little to no patience with place kickers. One of her favorite quotes when one of these guys screws up is, “OMG…be better…you’ve got one job!”
Now no one is perfect. Everyone screws up. However, as I mentioned a second ago, THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A KICKER THAT MISSED FOUR EXTRA POINTS IN A ROW. With that in mind, I honestly felt certain that at some point today, I would read that the team had essentially chosen to abandon Brett Maher in the locker room in Tampa and find a new kicker. Kickers are an abundant commodity. There are very few that last for any length of time with any team. Alas, this has proven not to be the case.
If I were to defend Maher, I’d point out his stats for the year. During the regular season, Maher made 50-of-53 extra point attempts and 29-of-32 field goals. After last night, game one in his postseason, Maher is one-for-five in extra point attempts. Apparently, the head coach of the Cowboys, Mike McCarthy believes last night to be an anomaly and not a growing trend. When pressed by the media for a status report in terms of the team’s kicker/kicking situation, the coach responded with, “We’re going to forge ahead.” Also, and significantly (no doubt) in Maher’s corner is quarterback and team leader, Dak Prescott.
Dak Prescott sticks up for Brett Maher:
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) January 17, 2023
"I'm Money Maher's biggest fan... I just played like s--- a week ago"
🎥: @CBSSportsHQ pic.twitter.com/SZqINWv1FB
For Brett Maher’s sake, no matter what happens in the Cowboys playoff tilt in San Francisco this weekend, I hope he’s not the negative topic of conversation, postgame.
