FRISCO — The Cowboys remain committed to kicker Brett Maher with four games remaining in the regular season.
Maher went 0-2 on field goals in Thursday’s loss to the Bills, dropping his success rate to 67.9% on the season. His 35-yard kick was blocked, and he was wide right on a 47-yarder. Cowboys officials have discussed possible replacements, but at this late stage of the season it’s doubtful a suitable replacement could be found.
The Patriots have employed at least four kickers this season because of injuries and released veteran Nick Folk on Thursday after he underwent an appendectomy. Folk, a former Cowboys kicker, was replaced by Kai Forbath. The Cowboys had Forbath in training camp in 2012 as he recovered from a thigh injury, and he was eventually released. Folk could return soon from his surgery, so he might be a possibility down the line.
There are several kickers on the market, including Matt Bryant, Mike Nugent, Cairo Santos and Cody Parkey, among others, but holding a workout is not something the Cowboys are willing to do.
“Brett is someone who has been a good kicker for us,” Jason Garrett said Friday in a conference call with reporters. “He made a lot of big kicks for us over the last couple of years. Obviously you need to make the kicks from the game yesterday, and some of the other ones that he’s missed over the course of the season. We’ll always continue to evaluate that situation. We believe in him, and we believe he can do the job for us, and that’s an ongoing process for us.”
Maher has missed nine field goal tries this season and is tied for the third-most kicks in the NFL at 28. Among the 20 kickers with at least 20 or more field goal attempts, Maher has the second-lowest conversion rate, better than only San Francisco’s Robbie Gould (65%).
No turnovers for the defense: After forcing seven turnovers in consecutive games, the Cowboys defense hasn’t gotten any in the last four weeks.
The last time the Cowboys went four consecutive games without a turnover was Weeks 9 through 12 in 2016.
In the loss to the Bills, safety Xavier Woods almost picked off a pass that Byron Jones had broken up, but the ball went through his hands.
“Well, we have to do a better job taking the ball away, first and foremost, on defense and in the kicking game,” Garrett said.
“We have to do a better job protecting the football on offense. We have to do everything we can to win the turnover ratio each week in the NFL. And so each of those things is a combination of factors. We have to coach it better. Our players have to play better. There have been instances with opportunities. We haven’t taken advantage of them.”
Garrett almost challenged fourth-and-1 fumble: Late in the first half, Bills quarterback Josh Allen recovered his own fumble and was able to sneak for a 3-yard plunge on a fourth-and-1. Garrett said he thought about challenging the play because when Allen fumbled, defensive tackle Christian Covington was lying on the ball. Garrett said replays didn’t give a clear view if Covington had possession.
“But every angle that we saw, the quarterback was on his feet and he was not down, and there was going to be no evidence to suggest that [Covington] had the ball and was down,” Garrett said. “Give Josh Allen credit. He did a helluva job on that play not only to have the wherewithal to get the ball but to covert the fourth-and-1 situation after. It’s a helluva play by him and a big play in the ball game.”
