The Dallas Cowboys outlasted Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as Dak Prescott turned in one of the best performances of his career to win his second playoff game. But it was a painful afternoon for one Cowboys player in particular, kicker Brett Maher.
Maher made history by missing four extra points, failing to complete his kicks after each of the Cowboys’ first four touchdowns before finally splitting the uprights on his fifth attempt.
No kicker had ever missed four extra points in a single NFL regular season or playoff game since 1948, according to FOX Sports research. Green Bay Packers kicker Mason Crosby missed four field goals and an extra point in one game in 2018, and former Chicago Bears kicker Cody Parkey once hit righties with four kicks in one game, but only two of those were extra point attempts.
Part of the reason for such a high success rate on extra points throughout NFL history is that extra points were attempted from 20 yards away for most of the league’s existence.
The NFL opted to move the extra point attempt distance to 33 yards in 2015, but the conversion rate remains over 92%. No kicker missed more than two extra point attempts in a game during the 2022 regular season, and only two — Cairo Santos of the Bears and Greg Joseph of the Minnesota Vikings — missed more than four extra point attempts total. Maher missed just three of 53 PATs in the regular season.
His woes quickly went viral on social media, with everyone from Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen to former Cowboys star Dez Bryant to Merriam-Webster.
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