Brett Maher sets a new NFL record, but he would rather not have
The Dallas Cowboys gave him ample opportunity, but Brett Maher just couldn’t seem to put it through the uprights, setting an ignominious NFL record.
In the first half of the Dallas Cowboys romp over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Cowboys put the ball into the end zone three times. Tack on the extra point and it is all a done deal right?
Not so fast.
Cowboys kicker Brett Maher seemed to have come down with a serious case of the yips, shanking one PAT after another, after another, setting a new NFL record.
Prior to this, the most extra points missed in a playoff game was two, a low point shared by four kickers; Tyler Bass, Steve Christie, Errol Mann, and Roy Gerela. All of those performances are now second place to Brett Maher’s ignominious record.
But wait, there’s more.
As the second half got under way, the Cowboys offense did their job once more, scoring another touchdown and offering Maher another chance to redeem himself.
You hit the nail on the head if you guessed that he missed that one, too. Four missed PATs in one game. That sets a new NFL playoff record and ties another.
While the previous playoff record for missed extra points was two, the record for the most missed extra points in any game, playoff or regular season was four. It was a nadir reached by the 1955 Cardinals, the 1945 Eagles, and the 1944 Redskins. In the last sixty five-plus years, that seemed to be the lowest point that any team would reach, let alone a single kicker.
Now Brett Maher has tied that effort with four misses of his own, standing out front, holder of an NFL record that he would rather not have set.