The Dallas signing was prompted by Maher’s historically rough night in the Cowboys’ wild-card win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The veteran kicker missed an NFL-record four extra point attempts in the win. Maher ended up hitting a home run on his final XP attempt of the night.
Maher, a 33-year-old journeyman, is in his third stint with the Cowboys. Until Monday night, Maher was enjoying the best year of his career, hitting 90.6 percent of his field goal attempts and connecting on 50 of 53 extra point attempts. One of the league’s best by a long shot, Maher is usually as reliable as it gets, which is why he still has the support of his teammates and coaches despite Monday’s miscues.
“I believe in the hot hand and I believe in the yips, absolutely,” Dallas special teams coordinator John Fassel said of Maher on Tuesday, according to ESPN. “And you know, sometimes you wonder how you get into the yips and sometimes you wonder how you get back into the hot hand. I think it’s keep getting to the line and shooting that thing. We missed a couple of free kicks [Monday] … He had a hot hand. Let’s face it, he just missed [six] kicks all season. Yips happen, so I expect a hot hand to emerge.”
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy added, “I think the most important thing is just making sure you have a good plan with Brett moving forward. Just make sure he’s ready.”
Star quarterback Dak Prescott said after the win, “I’m Money Maher’s biggest fan.”
Vizcaino is in his fifth NFL season. The 26-year-old kicker played in three games this season for the Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots, hitting all five of his attempts (two FGs, three XPs) in Arizona’s Week 10 win over the Los Angeles Rams. Vizcaino has never played in a postseason game, although he has experience in San Francisco. He played one game for the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium in the final week of the 2020 season.
Dallas faces San Francisco with the title game on the line at 6:30 PM ET on Sunday.
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