ARLINGTON — First, the positives of Brandon Aubrey’s Sunday night performance against the Vikings.
He made four field goals, which wasn’t unusual for him. And he made a bit of Cowboys history; the good kind, successfully pulling off the franchise’s first fake field goal in 24 years.
The negatives? He had misses from 51 of 59 yards. If it was any other NFL kicker, no big deal. But this is Aubrey we’re talking about, so any miss from any distance is a shock to the system.
His 59-yard miss occurred with the Cowboys trailing 24-23 with 12:24 left in the game, though that didn’t cost the Cowboys a win in what wound up being an eight-point defeat.
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Besides, had Dallas converted better than its paltry 2-of-12 showing on third downs and done more to stop the Vikings defensively, Aubrey’s night wouldn’t have been so eventful.
“Obviously, you want to make all your kicks,” he said. “You want to be perfect. I haven’t been perfect any year of my career yet, so that’s still something to strive for.
“I think being put out there for 50-plus-yard field goals repetitively is a pretty awesome experience, something I’m thankful for . . . I’ve just got to make some corrections and come back stronger.”
Aubrey said he struck the 51-yard attempt well, but it veered just right of target. The 59-yarder came off his toe.
“Pretty easy fixes,” he said.
How rare were those misses? Aubrey is now 31-of-35 on field goals this season, including 9-of-13 on attempts of 50 or more yards.
But until Sunday night, he’d only missed one attempt at home this season, on Nov. 3 against Arizona. That miss was from what would have been an NFL record-tying 68 yards on the last play of the first half, so in a way that shouldn’t count.
“If you play the game long enough, you’re gonna have some days like this,” he said. “This feels different, being at home; first time for me it’s happened at home. But I’ve had days like this every year — one, specifically, every year, so I’ll bounce back like those years and do the same thing.”
The misses, and especially the Cowboys’ defeat, put a damper on what most other nights would have been a career highlight for Aubrey.
On the Cowboys’ first possession, he got his first NFL carry — and converted a first down.
It happened when the Cowboys lined up for a 47-yard field goal. Holder Bryan Anger flipped the ball over his head to Aubrey, who ran around right end for six yards.
It was the first fake field goal executed by the Cowboys since Dec. 23, 2001, at Arizona.
Seven plays later the Cowboys took a 7-0 lead.
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“We practice it every week, but I was still surprised to hear it called on game day,” Aubrey said of the fake. “So was I was just excited to get a chance to go play football — which a lot of kickers don’t get to do.
“So it’s a little more exciting and getting to the flow of the game, and honestly, feels significantly less pressure just reading the field and making a play. So it was nice to have a normal play.”
The rest of Aubrey’s night? Good by NFL standards; subpar by Aubrey’s lofty credentials.
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