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By Steve Hunt/FoxSportsSouthwest.com
The Houston Texans will always have the Cowboys on one thing, that in their inaugural game in 2002, they handed America’s Team a shocking defeat. However, other than that, the NFL team from Dallas has clearly eclipsed the one in the Bayou City in each and every way.
However, even as the Texans still seek their first playoff appearance in franchise history while the Cowboys look to be the first team to ever host a Super Bowl in their home stadium, there is one lesson that America’s Team can take from their neighbor to the south and it resides in the kicking game.
As things stand right now, the Cowboys have all but given the place kicking job to one David Buehler. Fans and media alike saw his strong leg last year on kickoffs, where he became a valuable weapon to pin the opposition deep in their own end. And Buehler has worked extensively with ex-Dallas kicker Chris Boniol, who was hired by the team in the off-season as a consultant to help ease his transition, but handing him the job could be a huge mistake.
Buehler’s last stint as a placekicker came in 2008, his final year at USC. For his career, he was 26-of-33 on field goals. In 2008, he was 9-for-13 and the year before, he was 16-for-19. He clearly has the skills and the foot strength to get it done but it’s puzzling why the Cowboys haven’t made the position more competitive.
Dallas currently has just one other kicker heading into the start of training camp next Friday in San Antonio-Delbert Alvarado. Technically, the Cowboys have no other kickers on the roster as Alvarado, who played at South Florida, is listed as a punter. He was the Bulls’ place kicker his first two seasons before losing that job and focusing on punting. Alvarado looks to be in camp merely as a backup punter but he won’t get a look at kicker.
There was another kicker at Valley Ranch during OTAs and mini-camp, Connor Hughes, who kicked at Virginia and also had some experience in the Arena League. Hughes was cut loose in late June, which means for all effective purposes, Buehler has no competition for the starting job.
Compare that to the situation in Houston where the Texans have a pair of 33-year-old veterans vying for their place kicking duties. The incumbent is Southlake native Chris Brown, who has been with the Texans since 2002. But Brown comes off a disappointing season where he was just 21-for-32 on field goals, a success rate of just 65.6%, the worst of his 12-year NFL career.
Head coach Gary Kubiak and the rest of the front office knew that wasn’t good enough for a team looking to make the playoffs for the first time, so they brought in another veteran to compete with Brown for the kicking job. That vet was none other than fellow 33-year-old Neil Rackers, who most recently handled the kicking duties in Arizona.
Rackers comes off a solid year for the Cardinals, where he was 16-of-17 on field goals, a success rate of 94.1 percent. His best year in the desert came in 2005, when he was 40-for-42 on field goals (95.2%). Brown might very well retain the job, which would mean a kicker with Rackers’ experience and track record could very well be on the open market this fall, but at least the Texans are making the position competitive.
Maybe the Cowboys are handling this situation perfectly. It’s a strong possibility that they’re so confident and assured that Buehler can indeed handle the kicking duties that they’ve crossed it off their list of concerns heading into camp and moved on to bigger and better things. Along those same lines, it’s likely they feel that compared to the other options that are out there, the ex-Trojan is plain and simple, the best option for them at the current time.
And by no means should the Cowboys bring in another kicker just for the sake of having someone else in camp. If they do choose to invite someone to camp to compete with Buehler, which is highly unlikely, that individual doesn’t have to be someone fresh off the street.
So, it’s possible that all this talk about Buehler being ready might truly be moot once the season starts and he’s a consistent kicker who can be counted on late in games. But if that isn’t the case, Cowboy fans and media types alike will point back to the off-season, when the USC product was crowned the starting kicker for America’s Team and cite that decision as a huge misstep by the coaching staff.
The Houston Texans will always have the Cowboys on one thing, that in their inaugural game in 2002, they handed America’s Team a shocking defeat. However, other than that, the NFL team from Dallas has clearly eclipsed the one in the Bayou City in each and every way.
However, even as the Texans still seek their first playoff appearance in franchise history while the Cowboys look to be the first team to ever host a Super Bowl in their home stadium, there is one lesson that America’s Team can take from their neighbor to the south and it resides in the kicking game.
As things stand right now, the Cowboys have all but given the place kicking job to one David Buehler. Fans and media alike saw his strong leg last year on kickoffs, where he became a valuable weapon to pin the opposition deep in their own end. And Buehler has worked extensively with ex-Dallas kicker Chris Boniol, who was hired by the team in the off-season as a consultant to help ease his transition, but handing him the job could be a huge mistake.
Buehler’s last stint as a placekicker came in 2008, his final year at USC. For his career, he was 26-of-33 on field goals. In 2008, he was 9-for-13 and the year before, he was 16-for-19. He clearly has the skills and the foot strength to get it done but it’s puzzling why the Cowboys haven’t made the position more competitive.
Dallas currently has just one other kicker heading into the start of training camp next Friday in San Antonio-Delbert Alvarado. Technically, the Cowboys have no other kickers on the roster as Alvarado, who played at South Florida, is listed as a punter. He was the Bulls’ place kicker his first two seasons before losing that job and focusing on punting. Alvarado looks to be in camp merely as a backup punter but he won’t get a look at kicker.
There was another kicker at Valley Ranch during OTAs and mini-camp, Connor Hughes, who kicked at Virginia and also had some experience in the Arena League. Hughes was cut loose in late June, which means for all effective purposes, Buehler has no competition for the starting job.
Compare that to the situation in Houston where the Texans have a pair of 33-year-old veterans vying for their place kicking duties. The incumbent is Southlake native Chris Brown, who has been with the Texans since 2002. But Brown comes off a disappointing season where he was just 21-for-32 on field goals, a success rate of just 65.6%, the worst of his 12-year NFL career.
Head coach Gary Kubiak and the rest of the front office knew that wasn’t good enough for a team looking to make the playoffs for the first time, so they brought in another veteran to compete with Brown for the kicking job. That vet was none other than fellow 33-year-old Neil Rackers, who most recently handled the kicking duties in Arizona.
Rackers comes off a solid year for the Cardinals, where he was 16-of-17 on field goals, a success rate of 94.1 percent. His best year in the desert came in 2005, when he was 40-for-42 on field goals (95.2%). Brown might very well retain the job, which would mean a kicker with Rackers’ experience and track record could very well be on the open market this fall, but at least the Texans are making the position competitive.
Maybe the Cowboys are handling this situation perfectly. It’s a strong possibility that they’re so confident and assured that Buehler can indeed handle the kicking duties that they’ve crossed it off their list of concerns heading into camp and moved on to bigger and better things. Along those same lines, it’s likely they feel that compared to the other options that are out there, the ex-Trojan is plain and simple, the best option for them at the current time.
And by no means should the Cowboys bring in another kicker just for the sake of having someone else in camp. If they do choose to invite someone to camp to compete with Buehler, which is highly unlikely, that individual doesn’t have to be someone fresh off the street.
So, it’s possible that all this talk about Buehler being ready might truly be moot once the season starts and he’s a consistent kicker who can be counted on late in games. But if that isn’t the case, Cowboy fans and media types alike will point back to the off-season, when the USC product was crowned the starting kicker for America’s Team and cite that decision as a huge misstep by the coaching staff.