No, your eyes did not deceive you. Brett Maher missed four extra-point attempts in the Cowboys' 31-14 win over the Buccaneers in the NFL Super Wild Card round, which pushed them through to the divisional round against the San Francisco 49ers.
Despite knocking through his fifth and final extra-point try in the fourth quarter following CeeDee Lamb's 18-yard touchdown pass, Maher's four misses made him the first kicker in NFL history to miss four extra points in either a playoff or regular-season game.
Not exactly the kind of company you want to keep during a prime-time playoff game, if you're Maher, but even with his personal struggles, the ever-reliable kicker was quick to point to his teammates' success and take responsibility for his miscues.
"I am super happy for the team," Maher said. "This is a big win for us. Definitely didn't do my part together, and this team is too good moving forward for me not to do that. So get back at it this week."
It was a bizarre showing for Maher, to say the least. The 33-year-old had more than earned the moniker "Money Maher" over the course of 17 regular season games with a near 91 percent success rate on field goals and an even better 94 percent mark on extra points. But with a missed PAT in Week 18 against the Commanders, Maher is now one for his last six tries following a Cowboys' touchdown.
Despite the rough stretch for Maher, owner/general manager Jerry Jones said after the game that the team does not plan to look outside the organization for help at the kicking position.
"Well, I was worried about what those extra points might do towards winning this game," Jones said. "And when I got by that, I'm not going to worry about it anymore."
After missing his first two tries in the first half to the right following Dalton Schultz's 22-yard touchdown reception and Dak Prescott's 1-yard scoring run, Maher's third miss went wide left after Schultz's second touchdown reception.
"In hindsight, I think yes," Maher said when asked if it was a case of overcorrecting on his third try. "I didn't feel like that was my mentality going out there, but yeah, just not good enough."
Even with the rough performance from Maher, the Cowboys still picked up their first road playoff win in almost 30 years to the day since their last one against, ironically, the 49ers. But Maher pointed to the encouragement that his teammates, namely long-snapper Matt Overton and punter Bryan Anger, provided.
"Just supportive," Maher said. "That always helps. "I have a great amount of love for everyone in this locker room. So there were multiple people, Matt and Bryan included, who were in my corner today."
That included Prescott, who posted perhaps his worst game of the season just a week ago against the Commanders, and came over to provide words of encouragement of his own for Maher.
"I told him after the game, 'Hey, let that go,'" Prescott said. "We're going to need him. I played (awful) a week ago. That happens. … Knowing what that guy has done with resiliency throughout his career … no doubt he'll come back next week, be perfect and help us win."
"I feel very fortunate to have the teammates that I do," Maher said. "To be in the locker room and the coaching staff. They absolutely lifted me up today. So appreciate every single one of them. It's time for me to do my part."
With another massive road playoff game already in their sights against the team that booted them out of the tournament just a season ago, time is of essence for both the Cowboys and Maher to get back on track in the kicking department.
The solution? Clear the mechanism and sort it out.
"Get back at it," he said. "Hit some balls, have a great week of practice, get myself ready to go."
