Twitter: FG kicking woes most cost Cowboys the 2019 season

Northern_Cowboy said:

I was refferring to games where we missed zero FG's and still lost the game (NO and the Eagles game even the Jets game where we were down 21-9 halfway thru the 4th quarter with some saying the FG Maher missed at the end of the 1st half, even though he was 3/4 in the game is the reason we lost the game) So i guess you can say how are not Scoring TD's not a factor?

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Aside from games we lost without a missed FG, all missed FGs factor in. It doesn't matter if it was on the 1st drive. The game is 60 minutes long and they all count. Field position and momentum effect the game.

Streetwise said:

Aside from games we lost without a missed FG, all missed FGs factor in. It doesn't matter if it was on the 1st drive. The game is 60 minutes long and they all count. Field position and momentum effect the game.

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I agree i just don't agree with the premise of this thread that our FG kicker is the reason for us not having a better record and not making the playoffs this year, there were alot of games we lost this season where our FG kicker was not the reason and one game where he wasn't even on the team anymore (we lost that game 17-9)

Um, it was more than fg kicking.

John813 said:

Maher contributed to it, but it doesn't all fall on him. He wasn't the reason the team got embarrassed by the Jets or Packers or...

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Two other factors were that he did contribute the super long, 60+ yard FGs so that mitigates his closer misses just a tad. The other factor is that he deserved to get cut and Forbath did well when he came in but he has been inconsistent on other teams. There wasn't a slam dunk replacement available on a moments notice you would have if you cut Adam Redmond.

It was a contributing factor to missing the playoffs, but the problems were far bigger than their kicker.

Swagger said:

Ok Dan Bailey didn't have a great 2018 but he was back to his best last season and looks set to be one of the best kickers in the NFL again.

He was 27/29 field goals last season including 3/3 over 50+ yards.
93.1%
Like most of us said at the time, we should have kept him. Brainless to let him go but that's what happens when you overpay other players. Expect more of the same when Prescott gets $35+ million a year.

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Should they have kept Bailey a couple years while waiting for him to heal? When injured, he was horrible and there was nothing certain about him ever being able to recover.

Super_Kazuya said:

He was 3-4 in both games. Literally every other kicker in the league would have been 3-4 at best in the first game, and in the second game he literally scored all of the points. I think we can find someone else to pin those losses on.

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I wanted them to move in from Maher a long time before they actually did, but the Cowboys should not be depending on FGs to win anyway. They deserved to lose if all this talent can’t score TDS. One of Garrett’s biggest faults was not being able to score TDs in the red zone and depending of a FG kicker.

Oh_Canada said:

He cost them plenty. In broader terms, Maher has a cannon of a leg and changed the way JG coaches as a result. More specifically, he missed short fg which resulted in losses (Jets), missed a few long ones that Garrett would normally pass on which in turn screwed the Cowboys in field position which was something that plagued them all year.

Missed 57 yd FG in the Vikings game. If that is what Maher is good at, he needs to make that fg. Anyone else, Garrett would with either have punted or went for it. Gives the ball to the Vikings at almost mid field who proceed to walk down the field and score. Dallas lost by four, but were driving inside of one min and would have kicked a short fg to win if Maher makes the fg.

Missed 40yd FG at the Jets. I don't care he made a long fg, that is what he is good at. There were a number of drops as well in that game, but the kicker missed an easy one, short term it flipped the field again and ultimately ended up being the difference in a two point game.

Buffalo. Misses two easy fg, the second one takes it from being a 17-13 game with momentum to 17-6 and Buffalo getting the ball on the 35yd who than walk down the field and score a td to put the game away. Dallas was flat that day no doubt, but the kicker never gave them a chance to find there groove.

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Thank you for educating that poster and proving him wrong!

special teams was so bad lol every single aspect of it. kicking, punting, returns, coverage...a complite disaster all around.

i wonder how much mahers 60+ yarders saved him and keeped him around longer than he should have been.

bewp7 said:

special teams was so bad lol every single aspect of it. kicking, punting, returns, coverage...a complite disaster all around.

i wonder how much mahers 60+ yarders saved him and keeped him around longer than he should have been.

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I'm sure hitting 60 yarder helped but in all honesty how often will you attempt 60+ yarder? meantime hitting 20% from inside 50 is a killer.

Northern_Cowboy said:

I agree i just don't agree with the premise of this thread that our FG kicker is the reason for us not having a better record and not making the playoffs this year, there were alot of games we lost this season where our FG kicker was not the reason and one game where he wasn't even on the team anymore (we lost that game 17-9)

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Maybe you're just looking for any opportunity to crap on Prescott, but the OP never stated anything like what you're suggesting. And, no one is suggesting the FG kicker was THE reason.

Anyone in their right might would admit that the special teams were not only the worst in the NFL but were a reason we lost games. And to be clear not every game we lost.

jnday said:

Should they have kept Bailey a couple years while waiting for him to heal? When injured, he was horrible and there was nothing certain about him ever being able to recover.

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Yes I would have kept him because he was arguably the best kicker or the second best in the league at that point.

He struggled two years back after the injury you mention but he was/is a young guy in that position and could play for another ten+ years.

To his credit I remember when Mike McCarthy stuck by Mason Crosby after he had a horrible season in 2012. Woeful he was. Far worse than Bailey's rough period. But Crosby has come back and been very good for them and excellent in the post season, 90% field goals for the latter.

Short sighted to ditch Bailey imo.

America's Cowboy said:

Don't believe me? Look at these terrible numbers by ex-kicker Brett Maher...

Well, arguably, Jason Garrett was responsible for keeping Maher this long into the 2019 season when it was clear Maher had struggles being accurate since the 2018 season. How many games were lost by the foot of Brett Maher? It cost both Maher and Garrett their jobs, but no other facet of the team cost the Cowboys the 2019 season more.

Just look at Kai Forbath's last 5 teams stats (came to Dallas at the end of the 2019 season). He was 10 for 10 (100% accurate) for the Cowboys last year at the end of the season.

Regardless of other issues that happened on the field, none were more costly than so many missed FGs. What could have been if the Cowboys FG kicking game had been much better? This facet of the game most cost the Cowboys the 2019 season.

What say you?

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I have been waiting for somebody to kick the can on this.

I recall the old days when Dallas would hold these Kicking Caravans to go find kickers off the street to play for us.

It was also free advertising for the team in the offseason.

Tex Schramm came up with this stuff. The same guy that invented the DCC. He had his best ideas in his shower, too.

But I think we need to find the best college kicker and draft him and start with a younger kick without any fears or history of yoyo seasons.

And it's not just FGs. It's also about our KOs that are not being deep enough and our punts that are too returnable at all the wrong times.

Last year way too often, the other team would return a weak punt and get good field position and go score.

It's was so darn discusting.

So yeah..

I like you guys that want to fight out your posts with the stats.

There is a place for that.

More to me is the emotional satisfaction of kicking 5 FGs to bear a good team in a tight game.

Or the Glee at a punt rolling out on the 3 with 2 minutes to play and we are leading.

That is what excites me.

I would love to add some excitement over punt and kickoff returns except I have been sleepwalking for years becuz Beasley fair caught everything for so long..

I have given up hoping that part of the game would ever return.

Sick huh?

Streetwise said:

Maybe you're just looking for any opportunity to crap on Prescott, but the OP never stated anything like what you're suggesting. And, no one is suggesting the FG kicker was THE reason.

Anyone in their right might would admit that the special teams were not only the worst in the NFL but were a reason we lost games. And to be clear not every game we lost.

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Your nuts not once in this entire thread have i brought up the name Dak Prescott or crapped on him personally. You guys are way to insecure when it comes to Dak

Northern_Cowboy said:

Your nuts not once in this entire thread have i brought up the name Dak Prescott or crapped on him personally. You guys are way to insecure when it comes to Dak

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No, you mentioned the offense to be fair. But it wouldn't be far along.

Only someone who doesn't understand how football works would make such a ridiculous claim.

Sorry, coming in on the tail end here... I am curious how well Forbath will do this year for an entire season. I wonder if he can be the next "reliable" kicker or if he's just the Cowboys next stopgap?

Super_Kazuya said:

This is stupid, baseless and full of speculation. It literally proves my point for me... he didn’t cost them a single game. You actually cited a missed 57 yard field goal with more than 3 quarters remaining... lol. Nice try, troll.

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And FGs are worth 7, apparently.

Northern_Cowboy said:

Maher didn't miss any FG in the NO game where we lost 12-10 and he wasn't the kicker when we played the Eagles in week 16 where if we win we are in and we lost 17-9. Yes he missed some FG;s during the season he was not the only reason, our offense as a whole lost a lot of games for us too

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That's what I meant the offense as a whole

Streetwise said:

No, you mentioned the offense to be fair. But it wouldn't be far along.

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That's the insecurity you guys have about Dak. I'm no fan of Dak's everyone around here knows that so if i wanted to use Dak's name i would have without any issue at all and i have done so in the past. I used the word offense in this thread because i was talking about the offense. Believe me if i wanted to single out Dak i would have done so.