What The Folk Is Going On With The Cowboys Kicker?

After several seasons of dismal kicking games, the Dallas Cowboys decided to gamble and take a kicker in the NFL Draft.  After kickers like Billy Cundiff, Jose Cortez, Shaun Suisham and Mike Vanderjagt all flamed out in Dallas, it was time to get a guy that could kick for the team for the next 10-15 years.  That kicker was Nick Folk.

The Cowboys used a sixth rounder on Folk, hoping he would be an answer at the kicker position.  Initially, this pick paid dividends.  The University of Arizona alum went 26 for 31 as a rookie, including hitting a 53-yard field goal to beat the Bills (which he actually kicked twice).  Folk was 24 of 26 from under 50 yards, which was an area where most of the kickers before him still struggled.

He followed that up by going 20 of 22 as a sophomore.  That translated to hitting 91 per cent of his kicks, and the Cowboys had the  kicking game that they had so long needed.  After watching field goals sail all over the place from other kickers, they had a guy that was bang on when they needed him to be.

The one knock on Folk was that his kickoffs were shorter than most NFL kickers.  The Cowboys addressed this in the 2009 NFL Draft by selecting USC kicker David Buehler.  Most teams would never consider carrying two kickers, but Buehler's leg has pinned teams way back, and he leads the NFL in touchbacks through week 11.

While you would think that being stripped of kickoff duties would have a positive effect on Folk's field goal kicking, it has almost been the complete opposite.  After the Thanksgiving game against the Raiders, Folk is 15 of 20, or a measly 75 per cent.  He has missed three of his last four field goals, including a 38-yarder against the Packers.  All three of these misses have come from under 50 yards.

This will not be acceptable.  Folk is becoming somewhat of a liability and the Cowboys will need to address this.  If he hits the field goal against the Packers in week 11, that it would have been a closer game, and who knows what would have happened.  Instead, it left the Cowboys offence lost and confused.

Now, I am not saying that it is time to search for new kickers, but it may be time to let Buehler get a few more tries in practice.  Maybe the competition will convince Folk that his job may soon be on the line, and maybe he will become the consistent version that we saw in 2008.

If the Cowboys are to make a serious run at a Super Bowl title, the kicking will have to be there come playoff time.  If Folk doesn't get it shaped up soon, the Cowboys will have to start exploring other options.  Missing 38 yard field goals is not acceptable.