Maher missed 4 extra points but did not cost the Cowboys any points

[DandyDon52]

Wow. I read about it a day or two before the game. Sounds like the NFL is either pulling a fast one or Fassel didn't read the memo. Seems like the Cowboys find out about some of the obscure rules the hard way. Inner politics of the NFL rules committee?

charlotte jones is on that committee I think.

 

[Walker]

Point taken, lets hope he misses more extra points then!

 

[DandyDon52]

also kicks are a 3 person deal, the holder and kicker. and the center, has to be a good snap to holder.
no one ever blames the holder, or the snapper, why is that??
I know one hold was tilted about like this /

 

[maryquality]

https://**************/
dont even need an account there. so lets see the meme

No link there!!

 

[eromeopolk]

You really should read my entire post. At no point was I defending Maher.

Maher missed 4 PATs and made 1 PAT, so the deficit was 4 points, but because of the lack of confidence in him (and rightly so), the team went for it on 4th and 4 at the 18 yard line where normally logic would have dictated you kick the easy field goal and go up by 3 touchdowns.

So, had Maher made all 4 PATs, they would have taken the 3 points on that 4th and 4 and missed out on the touchdown instead, which was +4 points over what it would have been.

4 - 4 = 0

As I said though, this was not about defending Maher and I purposely waited a couple of days to post that because I knew a few people would still be too emotional (angry, mad, disappointed, etc.) to focus on what I was saying rather than assuming I was defending him, which I most definitely was not.

If you miss extra points and the other team scores and makes extra points, you lose the game 100% of the time. That's math facts. I read the post and do not agree with any of the logic.

Converting on a 2 pt conversion is 25%-48.2%. Extra point kick conversion is 95.2%. So team A scores 2 TDs and converts 1 2pt conversion and team Be scores 2 TDs an converts 2 extra points, the game is tied 14-14. But at what risk. Bad snap, fumble, interception, incompletion, penalty, Fumble or pick 2 by the defense, etc. 95% of the time the team that kicks extra points scores. You only have to win a game by 1 point and not 2 points. What is missing in all the analysis is a Kicker can score 3 points from 15-50 yards at a success rate of 80%. Teams cut kickers who are near 80% and below. So it would be better to get in field goal range with a good kicker for 3 points than go for 2 points. 3 > 2. That is why even after a 2 point conversion, teams are looking to add 3 points. Why? TD+extra point + FG = 10 pts. 10 > 8. The other team is now chasing 2 point conversions.

If your team has to go for 2 points because you kicker is incompetent at the main duty of his job (kick the ball through the goal post), you don't say it did not cost you anything because you won the game.

You handle it like Jimmy Johnson handled Lin Elliott even after Elliott was the kicker on his Super Bowl team. You cut him and get a better kicker ASAP. When you are in the playoffs, you have the urgency to win games. To win games you need to score 1 more point than your opponent that is easier with an extra point or field goal than 2 point conversion.

Thank God for Eddie Murray in 1993.

 

[Whirlwin]

I waited to post this for a couple of days because I know emotions were high after the game. Now that a couple of days have passed and the Cowboys have signed another kicker just in case they need to switch, I thought it would be a good time to share this.

As everyone knows, Maher missed 4 extra points in the game, which means at that point, the Cowboys were 4 points below what they should have had.

However, on their final scoring drive, the Cowboys had fourth down and four yards to go on the Buccaneer's 18 yard line.

At that point, the game was 24-6 Cowboys. Normally, in a playoff game if you are in that position and you are up 18 points, logic would dictate you take the 3 points to go up by 21 points so a team would have to score 3 touchdowns to catch or beat you.

However, because of their lack of confidence in Maher, the Cowboys opted to go for it instead which resulted in a touchdown.

Because Maher made the extra point on the final touchdown, it means they gained 7 points instead of the 3 points a field goal would have provided.

So, if Maher had made all of the other extra points, the Cowboys would have most likely kicked the field and the score would have been 31-6 at that point.

Since the Cowboys went for it, scored the touchdown and Maher finally made an extra point, the actual score was also 31-6.

This is in no way meant to excuse or write off the Maher misses, but I did think it was interesting that in the end, as luck would have it, the final Cowboys score ended up the same as it would have likely been had Maher made all of the extra points that game.

He ended up with the ball right down the middle, that’s the one that mattered for me. How do you end it