National Football League

Brett Maher misses NFL record four PATs in Cowboys win over Buccaneers

Updated Jan. 17, 2023 6:59 p.m. ET

The Dallas Cowboys rolled over Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as Dak Prescott turned in one of the best performances of his career to win his second playoff game. But it was a painful evening for one Cowboys player in particular — kicker Brett Maher.

Maher made history by missing four extra points, failing to make his kicks after each of the Cowboys' first four touchdowns before finally splitting the uprights on his fifth attempt.

No kicker had ever missed four extra points in a single NFL regular-season or playoff game dating back to 1948, per FOX Sports research. Green Bay Packers kicker Mason Crosby missed four field goals and an extra point in a 2018 game, and former Chicago Bears kicker Cody Parkey once hit the uprights on four kicks during a game, but only two of those were extra-point attempts.

Part of the reason for such a high success rate on extra points over the course of NFL history is that extra points were attempted from 20 yards away for most of the league's existence.

The NFL opted to move the extra-point try distance to 33 yards in 2015, but the conversion rate remains over 92%. No kicker missed more than two extra-point attempts in a game throughout the 2022 regular season, and only two — the Bears' Cairo Santos and the Minnesota Vikings' Greg Joseph, missed more than four extra-point attempts in total. Maher missed just three out of 53 PATs in the regular season.

His misfortunes quickly went viral on social media, with everyone from Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen to former Cowboys star Dez Bryant to Merriam-Webster weighing in.

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