Brett Maher BREAKING: Cowboys Sign New Kicker Tristan Vizcaino - Competition at The Star?
While lacking traditional drama, Monday's NFC Wild Card playoff game between the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers could go down as one of the most bizarre postseason games in NFL history. ...
And as a result, the Cowboys now have two kickers on their roster.
The Cowboys are signing kicker Tristan Vizcaino to the practice squad, as first reported by the Dallas News.
Vizcaino was with Dallas briefly in the 2020 offseason ... and he isn't expected to take over for Brett Maher just yet. But ...
Dallas (13-5) handled business against the NFC South champions and exorcised their Tom Brady demons to the tune of a 31-14 win but it came with the burden of one of the most dubious special teams performances in the NFL's century-plus long ledgers: Maher became the first kicker since 1932 to miss four extra points in any game.
The Cowboys handled Tampa well enough to the point where Maher's misfires hardly mattered. Dallas capitalized with five touchdowns but six-pointers are harder to come by against the San Francisco 49ers, who host an NFC Divisional playoff date with the Cowboys on Sunday evening (5:30 p.m. CT, Fox). The second-seeded 49ers (13-4) boast arguably the stingiest defense in football, allowing only two touchdowns per game this year (tied with fellow Sunday competitor Cincinnati for third-best this season).
Any opportunity within San Francisco territory will be vital to capitalize upon and time will only tell where Maher's mindset is, having missed five of his last six extra point attempts. An uncanny ability to hit his triples ... Maher is 10-for-10 over the last six games ... has more or less defined his career but many have, perhaps prematurely, penned the kicker's Dallas coda.
Are the Cowboys standing by their man?
Kinda.
"Hell, yeah … If you ask me, absolutely," special-teams boss "Bones'' Fassel said Monday on Maher being the kicker going forward. "It's just one of those days. He was distraught, like I am. But I have full confidence that he'll rebound."
Well, "absolutely'' just turned into "probably.''
Logistics, namely the short week that comes with the Monday night Wild Card, may make it difficult for the Cowboys to get a new leg in. Dallas management and players have also lent their support to Maher, further hinting that he'll be ready for Sunday. But anyone calling for Maher's ousting, be it through legitimate concerns for the Cowboys' scoring prospects or the mere sake of a gridiron meme, often fails to offer possible solutions for who takes over.
Dallas' pickings are, again, rather slim. But Vizcaino is now at The Star.
Anybody else worthy? The substitutions we say should at least be pondered ...
Lirim Hajrullahu
Those downright obsessed with the Dallas roster are used to seeing the Kosovo-born Hajrullahu's name: he's been the Cowboys' training camp leg over the past two seasons, having previously fulfilled the role in Los Angeles, Carolina, and Washington.
Hajrullahu, ironically enough, has a knack for kicking extra points in Dallas: in his sole game of regular season experience, subbing for an ill Greg Zuerlein last September against Atlanta, he converted five extra points in a 43-3 win.
If playoff experience counts for anything, Hajrullahu, a CFL veteran, also has championship experience as the kicker for the 2017 Grey Cup championship effort in Toronto.
Josh Lambo
Lambo's not a system, he's a man ... an experienced kicker, to be precise.
At this point of the season, Lambo is likely the most NFL-savvy option the Cowboys could have to consider, as he has five full seasons as a reliable option under his belt. That part of his career ended in distressful fashion, as he sued his former employers in Jacksonville after he was allegedly kicked by former head coach Urban Meyer.
Lambo briefly returned to an NFL roster in November, briefly subbing for Randy Bullock in Tennessee.
Chris Naggar
Naggar is used to Dallas-based kicking heroics, having previously starred at SMU. He also, like Hajrullahu, has some brief experience in the Cowboys' system as one of their minicamp legs during the spring before eventually giving way to Maher.
Naggar is a DFW kid who has one regular-season game under his belt, previously stepping in for Cleveland on Christmas Day in 2021.
Matthew Wright
Wright could be repping a playoff squad this weekend no matter what: he's currently residing on the Kansas City Chiefs' practice squad and has been used as insurance for Harrison Butker's injury.
The UCF alum has been mostly used as a replacement kicker throughout his career: he's 15-of-18 between Pittsburgh and Kansas City this season just a year after converting 21-of-24 with, ironically enough, the Chiefs' Saturday visitors from Jacksonville.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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