‘If I did my job, we win.’ Dallas Cowboys’ Greg Zuerlein takes blame for missed kicks
Early on, the game seemed to be headed to a walk-off field goal that would decide the NFL’s season-opening game between the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers Thursday night.
For a half, at least, the Dallas Cowboys didn’t look like the big underdog against the defending Super Bowl champions.
Tom Brady and the Buccaneers led the Cowboys 21-16 at halftime at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., but the Cowboys’ five-point deficit included two missed field goals and an extra-point by Greg Zuerlein. Zuerlein, who missed almost all of training camp rehabilitating from offseason back surgery, missed attempts from 31 yards and 60 yards, the latter which came with 20 seconds left in the half.
The Bucs, who celebrated their Super Bowl title before the game, were the team oddsmakers had favored to win.
“Obviously, missing such an easy kick. You don’t even practice that. It’s automatic,” Zuerlein said of point after miss. “You miss something like that and you analyze it for two minutes, figure out what you did wrong. You have to move on.”
He said he’ll have to review the film to see exactly what he did wrong to hook the PAT left.
Zuerlein, however, was set up to be the redemptive hero when he nailed a go-ahead, 48-yard field goal with 1:24 remaining. ”The approach is all the same whether you make it or miss it,” he said. “You don’t just throw things straight out the window. You figure out what you did wrong. You make a slight tweak, but you’re not going to wholesale change everything. You just have to keep swinging.”
Zuerlein dismissed any excuses of perhaps being rusty for having to miss much of camp following back surgery.
“No excuses. If I’m out there, I should make the kicks,” he said. “There’s a lot of good you can take from this. I know we played well enough to win. If I did my job, we win that game. I feel bad for the guys in there that played their ass off, and I didn’t hold up my end of the deal. If the team that’s that good, returning every player after a Super Bowl victory, and we’re right there, I just have to do my job.”
Alas, Bucs kicker Ryan Succop won the game with a 34-yard field goal with two seconds left to give Tampa Bay the 31-29 win.
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 9:14 PM.
