Greg Zuerlein is a less accurate kicker than Brett Maher

[conner01]

Take into consideration all of the 50+ yard kicks that Zuerlein has attempted that makes his numbers look bad. He's 46/49 from the money range...comparable to Tucker, who is widely regarded as the best kicker in the league.

Zuerlein's missed XPs has not cost the Cowboys any game so far. Has he missed them at the end of regulation or late in the 4th quarter? No. Those misses are just the same as any mistake the team makes during the course of a game. A Dak missed throw/turnover, WR drop, DB penalty, etc. Mistakes happen in a game.

This team has a lot of issues, Zuerlein is far from one of the biggest. You want to replace him...fine. Good luck trusting a random kicker off the street to make a 47 yard FG with the game on the line.

He’s missed 5 extra points
Over 50 yards if you make more than half that’s great
He has done a solid job under 50 but extra points have to be nearly automatic

 

[Typhus]

Greg the leg is now Greg the egg.. just getting a decent kicker seems to be difficult chore.

 

[Kevinicus]

You keep having to qualify and twist and omit....so his missing an XP early, where we would have won the game in regulation if he had made it, did not lose the game because he didn’t miss it later in the game ? Dude, you’re a joke. Coach Fassell is that you ?

Please tell me you don't think you can just take a missed XP from early in a game and extrapolate that the team would have one if that one play was different. Surely you don't think you can just change something, and then everything else after that just plays out exactly the same?

 

[JoeKing]

I'm so sick of fans complaining about a damn kicker. If the team played better, the kicker wouldn't even matter. But rather than complaining about your team the sucks and thus relies on a kicker to do their job, they rather just complain about the kicker. Complain about your team that needs a kicker rather than the kicker.

 

[MaineBoy]

Please tell me you don't think you can just take a missed XP from early in a game and extrapolate that the team would have one if that one play was different. Surely you don't think you can just change something, and then everything else after that just plays out exactly the same?

Your premise is just preposterous: so no event that happens in a game affects the outcome ? Yes, that missed extra point affected the score, duh, and the outcome of the game. Dak throws 9 interceptions in some game that the opponents convert to 63 points but as long as they are in the first half you’re all good. Kickers win and lose games every weekend in the nfl. Kicking matters, Sunshine.

 

[CT Dal Fan]

Those stats are misleading. Yes, Zuerlein has missed some XPs but overall, he is MUCH better than Maher and it's not even close...they need to look deeper into the numbers and take into account the accuracy from distance.

FGs from 0-49 yards:
Zuerlein: 46/49 (93.8%)
Maher: 39/51 (76.4%)
*For comparison - Justin Tucker the last two seasons: 40/43 (93%)

FGs from 50+ yards:
Zuerlein: 4/13 (30.7%)
Maher: 10/15 (66.6%)
*For comparison - Justin Tucker the last two seasons: 6/8 (75%)

I'm not going to criticize a kicker for missing 50+ yard FGs, especially since McCarthy has made Zuerlein attempt some ridiculously long kicks that had a low chance anyway. But Zuerlein is money from pretty much every else.

He is still a good kicker. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have made the game-tying kicks vs. Tampa, NE, LV, or the game-winning kick at LAC. The missed XPs are not ideal but look around the NFL, a lot of kickers are missing them now, even some good ones:

XPs 2020-2021:
Zuerlein: 55/61 (90%)
Nick Folk: 56/63 (88.8%)
Harrison Butker: 80/87 (91.9%)
Chris Boswell: 53/58 (91.3%)

I remember this about Maher. He would make all the long distance kicks and whiff on the short gimmes. He was just as frustrating as Zuerlein, probably more.

 

[Kevinicus]

Your premise is just preposterous: so no event that happens in a game affects the outcome ? Yes, that missed extra point affected the score, duh, and the outcome of the game. Dak throws 9 interceptions in some game that the opponents convert to 63 points but as long as they are in the first half you’re all good. Kickers win and lose games every weekend in the nfl. Kicking matters, Sunshine.

No, that's not my premise. Not at all. Try again.

And no one player has, or ever will, win or lose a game. That's not how it works.

 

[MapleLeaf]

I've been fine with keeping Zuerlein all year, to be honest he really hasn't been that bad. Perfect under 30 yards Over 90% on 30-39 yard attempts 83% 40-49 yards. Its the long ones he has struggled with. Also the XPs, which is just odd. Seems more like a lack of focus than a kicking issue.

Now the advantage of having Greg "the leg" is that he is supposed to be able to hit the long field goals which he has not. I've not been overly impressed with his performances, and would consider it a failure at this point if the Cowboys dont bring in a serious competitor over the offseason, however you have to be very careful what you ask for in making a change at K in December. That is a very dangerous move.

I don't think it is that much of a risk to be frank.

Lirim is available and has been kicking consistently. The fact is that Zuerlien has missed (5) kicks under 40 yards. PATs are included because they are kicks for points. It's not like they don't count.

So I would say he has a serious focus and mechanical problem. Stats over the past 10 years show that around 15% of the NFL games are within a FG or less in deciding the win or the loss. Why would you tolerate the failure rate in kicks under 40 that are that high.

You were more than happy to bring the guy in for pre-season. He was statistically the best kicker at the Rams camp and McVey went with his college alma mater and paid the price by having to cut him in week 7 after letting Lirim go.

I would give this guy a chance...or do you tolerate another missed PAT?

A lucky watermelon kick doesn't overcome the heartache of a missing easy points.

 

[MapleLeaf]

Please tell me you don't think you can just take a missed XP from early in a game and extrapolate that the team would have one if that one play was different. Surely you don't think you can just change something, and then everything else after that just plays out exactly the same?

All PAT points are is cash in the bank. You always fill up the piggy bank because in this league you don't know when you end up in a part of the game where you go broke on offence.

 

[MapleLeaf]

I'm so sick of fans complaining about a damn kicker. If the team played better, the kicker wouldn't even matter. But rather than complaining about your team the sucks and thus relies on a kicker to do their job, they rather just complain about the kicker. Complain about your team that needs a kicker rather than the kicker.

So would you not complain about a player, any player, who was playing up the standards of the average in the league?

Right now I would put Zeurlein in the bottom group of kickers in the league with Crosby, Slye and Vizcaino. He is not hitting average, and his misses alters the way the Cowboys will play the game. BTW, I checked again on his stats and he has missed (5) kicks under 43 yards. (3) PATs and (2) FG attempts. Of the three I have listed the only other kicker who has been wild with PATs like Greg has been Nick Folk, but it seems the hoodie is willing to tolerate him because he has been perfect on all the expected kicks. 50 yards and under.

 

[JoeKing]

So would you not complain about a player, any player, who was playing up the standards of the average in the league?

Right now I would put Zeurlein in the bottom group of kickers in the league with Crosby, Slye and Vizcaino. He is not hitting average, and his misses alters the way the Cowboys will play the game. BTW, I checked again on his stats and he has missed (5) kicks under 43 yards. (3) PATs and (2) FG attempts. Of the three I have listed the only other kicker who has been wild with PATs like Greg has been Nick Folk, but it seems the hoodie is willing to tolerate him because he has been perfect on all the expected kicks. 50 yards and under.

I don't consider the kicker a football player at all. The other 10 players have a purpose that is needed while the kicker is superfluous.

 

[Cmac]

Sometimes he's kicking like there's wind in Jerry World.