The Dallas Cowboys ended the first half of their wildcard game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on fire, scoring three touchdowns and not allowing a single point through either field goals or touchdowns.
But the Cowboys' dominance had an interesting asterisk to it. Dallas kicker Brett Maher missed all three extra-point attempts following touchdowns, leaving the score at 18-0 - in other words, he left a whole field goal out of the score with three easy missed kicks.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was not happy with Maher following his third extra-point miss.
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Throughout the regular season, Maher was a reliable kicker. He hit 29 out of 32 field goal attempts and was 50/53 on extra points. Missing three straight kicks in a playoff game can be a pretty dangerous thing, especially when you're up against Tom Brady away from home.
Dak had even more reason to be upset as the game went on, as Maher somehow got another chance to kick and he again missed - a fourth straight missed kick is something that has never happened in the history of the league. No kicker has ever missed four extra points in a single game until today.
Since he also missed an extra point in the game against the Washington Commanders to close out the season, Maher is now in the middle of an incredible sequence of five missed extra points. His job is probably unsafe even if the Cowboys win the game.
Maher breaks unfortunate record, but when was the last time a kicker missed so many extra point attempts?
The last time a player missed three extra points in a single game was in 2019, when Buccaneers kicker Matt Gay missed three out of five attempts against the Atlanta Falcons. Maher broke his record with a perfect four misses out of four kicks for the Cowboys in only 35 minutes.
Gay was released from the Buccaneers following his poor performance, but he bounced back, signing with the Los Angeles Rams and improving massively in the two subsequent years, winning a Super Bowl ring and being nominated for a Pro Bowl in 2021.
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