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Taylor: David Buehler has failed; Cowboys need to find a new kicker
01:41 AM CDT on Wednesday, September 22, 2010
COLUMN By JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News
jjtaylor@dallasnews.com
ARLINGTON – This is not the time for Jerry Jones to be stubborn.
This is the time for him to admit he made a mistake and get a new placekicker at the club's Valley Ranch training complex before practice starts this afternoon.
Somebody. Anybody.
Matt Stover. John Carney. Shayne Graham . Kris Brown. They're all available.
These Cowboys can't wait until the bye week to make a decision on David Buehler's future. They need someone who will make the kicks he's supposed to make.
No more, no less.
Don't fool yourself. Next week doesn't exist for these Cowboys if they lose to Houston.
Drop to 0-3 and the season is over. Done. Kaput.
Since 1990, 102 teams have started a season 0-3. Three have made the playoffs.
These mentally fragile Cowboys will not be the fourth.
Heck, they can't even decide among themselves whether they need a players-only meeting to figure out among themselves why they're 0-2.
Sad.
Oh well, let's return to the topic at hand.
Buehler has a great leg, arguably the best in the NFL, but he has no clue where the ball is going once it leaves his right foot.
That's obvious.
Maybe one day, Buehler will be among the league's best. Maybe he'll have a long career.
But we're talking about a player without a real track record. He was known more for being a phenomenal athlete – he also played safety and fullback – than a great kicker at USC.
Besides, the Trojans were so good, Buehler experienced more pressure at practice than he did during games.
Buehler doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt from Jerry. He hasn't earned it.
Perhaps one day. Not now.
Buehler has missed a key field goal attempt in each of the first two games. That's unacceptable.
After all, kickers are the most replaceable player on any football team because they don't have high salaries and there's always a plethora of candidates to replace them.
There's nothing more deflating for a team than watching a kicker miss a kick he's supposed to make. A kicker can also inspire a team by drilling a long field goal and producing unexpected points.
Jerry doesn't want to carry four specialists – a kicker, a kickoff specialist, a punter and a long snapper – on the Cowboys' 45-man game day roster.
Too bad.
He did it last season, and it's a risk he should've seen coming in the off-season and training camp, when the Cowboys essentially guaranteed Buehler's job.
They even hired former Cowboys kicker Chris Boniol to work with him.
Boniol, by all accounts, is an excellent teacher, and he was a technician as a player. But so much of this job is about handling the moment and delivering under pressure.
Thus far, Buehler has failed.
He missed a 34-yard attempt in the second quarter against Washington that would've tied the score and allowed Dallas to play for a field goal instead of a touchdown in the fourth quarter of their 13-7 loss.
And he missed a 44-yard attempt with about seven minutes left against Chicago that would've tied the score, 20-20. Sure, he made a 48-yard kick later in the fourth quarter, but by then the Cowboys needed a miracle to win.
On another team in another year, the Cowboys would have the time to let a talent such as Buehler develop, but this is a team that began the season with Super Bowl aspirations.
The games are so close in today's NFL that a team without a consistent kicker is asking to get beat once or twice a year. We saw last season how much an inconsistent kicker affects everything from Jason Garrett's play-calling to Wade Phillips's decision-making.
The worst personnel decision Jerry made this off-season was making Buehler the kicker. The worst decision he'll make this season will be not rectifying that mistake.
The Cowboys already have used their margin for error. Jerry needs a new kicker before it's too late.
It's time to place a phone call.
01:41 AM CDT on Wednesday, September 22, 2010
COLUMN By JEAN-JACQUES TAYLOR / The Dallas Morning News
jjtaylor@dallasnews.com
ARLINGTON – This is not the time for Jerry Jones to be stubborn.
This is the time for him to admit he made a mistake and get a new placekicker at the club's Valley Ranch training complex before practice starts this afternoon.
Somebody. Anybody.
Matt Stover. John Carney. Shayne Graham . Kris Brown. They're all available.
These Cowboys can't wait until the bye week to make a decision on David Buehler's future. They need someone who will make the kicks he's supposed to make.
No more, no less.
Don't fool yourself. Next week doesn't exist for these Cowboys if they lose to Houston.
Drop to 0-3 and the season is over. Done. Kaput.
Since 1990, 102 teams have started a season 0-3. Three have made the playoffs.
These mentally fragile Cowboys will not be the fourth.
Heck, they can't even decide among themselves whether they need a players-only meeting to figure out among themselves why they're 0-2.
Sad.
Oh well, let's return to the topic at hand.
Buehler has a great leg, arguably the best in the NFL, but he has no clue where the ball is going once it leaves his right foot.
That's obvious.
Maybe one day, Buehler will be among the league's best. Maybe he'll have a long career.
But we're talking about a player without a real track record. He was known more for being a phenomenal athlete – he also played safety and fullback – than a great kicker at USC.
Besides, the Trojans were so good, Buehler experienced more pressure at practice than he did during games.
Buehler doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt from Jerry. He hasn't earned it.
Perhaps one day. Not now.
Buehler has missed a key field goal attempt in each of the first two games. That's unacceptable.
After all, kickers are the most replaceable player on any football team because they don't have high salaries and there's always a plethora of candidates to replace them.
There's nothing more deflating for a team than watching a kicker miss a kick he's supposed to make. A kicker can also inspire a team by drilling a long field goal and producing unexpected points.
Jerry doesn't want to carry four specialists – a kicker, a kickoff specialist, a punter and a long snapper – on the Cowboys' 45-man game day roster.
Too bad.
He did it last season, and it's a risk he should've seen coming in the off-season and training camp, when the Cowboys essentially guaranteed Buehler's job.
They even hired former Cowboys kicker Chris Boniol to work with him.
Boniol, by all accounts, is an excellent teacher, and he was a technician as a player. But so much of this job is about handling the moment and delivering under pressure.
Thus far, Buehler has failed.
He missed a 34-yard attempt in the second quarter against Washington that would've tied the score and allowed Dallas to play for a field goal instead of a touchdown in the fourth quarter of their 13-7 loss.
And he missed a 44-yard attempt with about seven minutes left against Chicago that would've tied the score, 20-20. Sure, he made a 48-yard kick later in the fourth quarter, but by then the Cowboys needed a miracle to win.
On another team in another year, the Cowboys would have the time to let a talent such as Buehler develop, but this is a team that began the season with Super Bowl aspirations.
The games are so close in today's NFL that a team without a consistent kicker is asking to get beat once or twice a year. We saw last season how much an inconsistent kicker affects everything from Jason Garrett's play-calling to Wade Phillips's decision-making.
The worst personnel decision Jerry made this off-season was making Buehler the kicker. The worst decision he'll make this season will be not rectifying that mistake.
The Cowboys already have used their margin for error. Jerry needs a new kicker before it's too late.
It's time to place a phone call.
