Dallas Cowboys kicker Brett Maher missed an incredible four PATs during their wild-card game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night, leaving himself with an unwanted NFL record.
Fortunately, the Cowboys didn’t need any of those lost points as they beat Tom Brady’s team rather comfortably.
This was all very strange as Maher had only missed three PAT attempts leading up to Monday’s fixture, having converted 50 of the 53 he lined up. The 33-year-old, fortunately for him, would score on his fifth attempt, but the Cowboys wouldn’t have been blamed for attempting to go for the two after that third miss.
In any case, Jerry Jones has assured the player his position is safe but, should he throw up any more stinkers, you can believe he won’t be with the Cowboys next season.
Various conspiracy theories have been floated around since the godawful performance, with people claiming Maher missed on purpose to trash some betting slips.
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However, there’s one going around that does seem pretty believable.
The NFL asked officials to ensure kickers used no “foreign objects” on field goal and PAT attempts before the playoffs began, the result of the Philadelphia Eagles getting caught using an illegal aid during a game against the New Your Giants in Week 14.
Some fans reckon the added diligence might have been the reason for Maher’s struggles.
Of course, in this case, the most obvious reason is the likeliest one. Maher’s confidence got shot after that first miss and things went downhill from there. He’s going to have to do some real work this week as the spotlight will be on him against the San Francisco 49ers on the weekend.
