Cowboys shorten Brett Maher’s leash after disastrous postseason performance

January 19, 2023 ndowd

The Dallas Cowboys have brought in insurance for kicker Brett Maher, who struggled in the team’s Wild Card Round game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Dallas Cowboys silenced their critics for at least another week after they defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-14 in their Wild Card Round game. The offense was clicking and the defense was making Tom Brady’s job much more difficult. But there was one player who had a rough night in Tampa, and that was kicker Brett Maher. The veteran place kicker missed his first four extra-point attempts of the game, but luckily for the Cowboys, they were ultimately inconsequential, considering the final score.

While the Cowboys have stressed that Maher’s job isn’t in jeopardy for the Divisional Round, the team made an insurance move just in case.

According to NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero, the team is signing kicker Tristan Vizcaino to their practice squad.

The #Cowboys plan to sign kicker Tristan Vizcaino to the practice squad, pending physical, per source.

Team officials have said the plan is to stick with Brett Maher after Monday night’s extra-point fiasco. But now they have insurance.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 18, 2023

Cowboys sign kicker to practice squad after Brett Maher’s rough playoff performance

After the game, Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said they were going to “forge ahead” with Maher as their kicker. Then, team owner Jerry Jones said that they had no plans to replace Maher following his performance against the Buccaneers or even look at kickers. Well, they did look at Vizcaino, and signed him to the practice squad. So, yeah.

Vizcaino was an undrafted free agent out of Washington in 2018. He played in his first career NFL game with the San Francisco 49ers in 2020, where he made all three of his field goal attempts, including a long of 47-yards, and both of his extra point attempts. Last year, Vizcaino played in six games for the Los Angeles Chargers, making six-of-seven field goal attempts (long of 46-yards) and 10-of-15 extra point attempts.

Prior to joining the Cowboys’ practice squad this season, Vizcaino played two games for the Arizona Cardinals, making two field goal attempts (long 46-yards) and three extra point attempts.

Maher made the wrong kind of history this past Monday, as he became the first player to miss four extra-point attempts in a game since 1932.

The Cowboys can ill-afford to miss out on any of their kicks, as they face a 49ers team that has an explosive offense and a dominant defense. It could be Dallas’ toughest test of the season, and the team brought in an extra kicker as insurance in case Maher struggles.

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