Dallas Cowboys: Stephen Jones addresses kicking situation, potential of change

It wasn’t Greg Zuerlein’s best night at the office on Thanksgiving. But it sounds like he’ll remain the Dallas Cowboys kicker.

Zuerlein missed a 59-yard field goal and an extra point in Dallas’ 36-33 overtime loss to Las Vegas on Thanksgiving. Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones went on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on Friday and gave Zuerlein his full support after the rough showing.

“Not at all,” Jones said when asked if Dallas was considering changes at kicker. “We feel really good about Greg. … We have the utmost confidence in Greg. He’s our kicker.”

The Cowboys are not considering any changes at kicker.

Cowboys VP Stephen Jones on @1053thefan: “Not at all. We feel really good about Greg (Zuerlein). … We have the utmost confidence in Greg. He’s our kicker.”

— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) November 26, 2021

Zuerelein has made 81.9% of his field goals over his career and 96.4% of his extra points. This year, “Greg the Leg” is 79.2% (19 for 24) on field goals, which ranks 25th in the NFL, according to pro-football reference. He’s also made 88% (22 for 25) of his extra points, which is 23rd out of 26 kickers in the league.

His career low field goal percentage is 66.7% when he made 20 of 30 for the St. Louis Rams in 2015.

Dallas is now 7-4 on the year and is getting ready to take on the New Orleans Saints Dec. 2 on Thursday Night Football.

Dallas Cowboys: Mike McCarthy rips NFL officiating without saying a word

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy criticized the officiating from Thursday’s loss to the Las Vegas Raiders by refusing to make an official comment. The Cowboys fell to the Raiders 36-33 in overtime while setting a new team record for penalty yardage in a game.

“Twenty-eight penalties,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said after the game. “‘I don’t really know what the hell you want me to say. Write whatever you want. I’m all for it.”

The officiating crew for Thursday’s game called a total of 28 penalties in the game, 14 on each team. The total penalty count was the highest ever in a Cowboys’ game. The Cowboys themselves racked up 166 penalty yards, a new record as well for the team. The previous record was 161 yards against Washington in 1970.

Adding to the fan reactions to how many penalties were called was a particularly funny stat at the expense of the winless Detroit Lions. There were more penalty yards in the Cowboys versus Raiders game than the Lions gained total against the Chicago Bears earlier in the day.

While McCarthy didn’t have any words for the officiating, a couple of Cowboys stars were vocal about their issues with the referees.

“I feel bad for my guys cause I know some of the penalties were 50/50; some would say really bad calls,” rookie Micah Parsons said. “It doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, football is an aggressive game and you’re gonna attack the ball, and you’re gonna play through the ball, and you’re gonna play the defender. End of the day, it’s gonna come to a point and time where when are you going to let us truly play?”