Brett Maher’s pregame warmups should scare the hell out of Cowboys fans

Cowboys kicker Brett Maher missed four PATs last week and worries have only grown after his warmups looked shakey before kickoff against the 49ers.

The Cowboys were in a tough spot at the kicker position coming into Sunday’s NFC Divisional Round matchup against the 49ers.

Knowing that every point could matter as an underdog in the game, they had to choose to either stick with Brett Maher after he missed four extra points against the Buccaneers or elevate practice squad kicker Tristan Vizcaino to take his place.

The team decided to give Maher a chance to rebound, putting their faith in him to get things right. It was probably the correct decision given the circumstances, but the proof will be in the pudding. No one will know for sure until Maher takes the field again in live play.

Unfortunately for Cowboys fans, his warm-up kicks were not encouraging.

Cowboys kicker Brett Maher was shaky kicking during warm-ups

Clarence Hill Jr. tweeted that Maher “has been shaky in pregame warmups.”

His assessment was backed up by Tim Kawakami of The Athletic, who tweeted that the kicker “missed a 43-yarder about 20 feet wide right after 2 earlier misses right from shorter distance. Then made two. Then missed another wide right.”

To make matters worse for Dallas, the 49ers seemed intent on getting in Maher’s head as much as possible.

Football is a mental battle as much as a physical one. The mind games are only just beginning for Maher, who has a whole lot to prove.

Maher made 50-of-53 PATs during the regular season. However, he missed his final attempt against Washington in the regular-season finale and that trouble carried over into the playoffs. He missed his first four extra points as the Cowboys blew out the Bucs. The lopsided scoreline was his saving grace. Hitting his fifth and final attempt of that game was supposed to send him into the next week with some confidence.