Things were not going the Dallas Cowboys way during their wild card matchup against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
For starters, the team was getting rolled big time headed into the fourth quarter, losing 23-7 headed into the final 15 minutes of play. Then, the glare from the sun impacted wide receiver Cedrick Wilson’s ability to catch a pass in the second quarter and everyone had jokes. And finally, the Cowboys punted the ball off their gigantic scoreboard and had to re-do it.
In the second quarter, punter Bryan Anger got enough lift on his kick that the ball smacked into the underside of the Cowboys huge scoreboard, causing the ball to bounce well short of its intended target thanks to the redirect.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen kickers and punters smack the Cowboys’ incredibly ostentatious scoreboard — which, at its largest, is 160 feet wide and 72 feet tall — and it definitely won’t be the last. Still, for it to come after a calamity of errors on Dallas’ side is just more salt in the wound.
The defensive duo joins offensive linemen Tyron Smith and Zack Martin on the NFC roster; punter Bryan Anger has also been nominated. | From @ToddBrock24f7
The Cowboys will be well-represented at this year’s Pro Bowl. The NFL announced its 2022 Pro Bowl rosters on Wednesday, and Dallas is one of eight teams to place five or more players on their conference’s squad.
Dallas will send five from its ranks to Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Feb. 6. This comes after a disappointing 2020 season that sent zero Cowboys to the annual all-star game. Cornerback Trevon Diggs, rookie linebacker Micah Parsons, right guard Zack Martin, left tackle Tyron Smith, and punter Bryan Anger have all been named Pro Bowlers for the 2021 season.
For Smith, it’s his eighth nomination in 11 seasons; he was not named a starter this year, as his four Cowboys teammates were. Martin is back for his seventh time in eight years.
It will be the first Pro Bowl for Anger, Diggs, and Parsons. Parsons becomes just the 12th player in franchise history to earn the honor as a rookie, joining past Cowboys greats like Emmitt Smith, Bob Hayes, Ezekiel Elliott, and the aforementioned Martin.
The Cowboys did not have a player make the Pro Bowl last year (first time since 1989 without at least one). They will have at least 5 this season.
Cowboys just named to the Pro Bowl:
LB Micah Parsons CB Trevon Diggs RG Zack Martin LT Tyron Smith P Bryan Anger
What stands out most immediately with the five Cowboys named is that they represent all three parts of the roster. While the Dallas offense was expected to be among the league’s best in 2021, the defense has been a stunning surprise. Now both units have produced a pair of Pro Bowlers. And even the special teams has contributed to the NFC’s roster with the addition of the veteran Anger.
The Colts lead the league this season with seven Pro Bowlers. The Chiefs and Chargers will have six players featured. Dallas joins Baltimore, Cleveland, San Francisco, and Tampa Bay in sending five.
While a Pro Bowl nomination is still a badge of honor in the NFL, the Cowboys selected ultimately hope they won’t be able to play in the game. They’d much rather be gearing up instead to play in Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles seven days later.
Zack Martin is out amid growing concern that COVID will have a serious impact on the 2021 season; Tampa Bay prep, La’el Collins returns. | From @ToddBrock24f7
During a weekend when college football stadiums were back to maximum capacity for the first time in nearly two years, the ongoing COVID pandemic is suddenly the main story in the NFL just four days before opening night of its season. Connor Williams comes off the watchlist for Dallas just as Zack Martin tests positive for the virus and CeeDee Lamb talks about the symptoms he experienced. Tom Brady reveals he had the virus and believes it will affect the NFL even more this year than last. The fans will be back in full force around the league… but will there be a full 272 games played this year? It suddenly feels iffy.
Also in the news, La’el Collins returns from his neck stinger just in time for Tampa, two of the Cowboys’ biggest stars are eager to finally be unleashed against the Bucs, and the team is still tinkering with the roster by officially re-signing their punter. Uniform news: another batch of new jersey numbers for several Cowboys, and could today’s traditional football helmets be replaced by soft shells in an effort to improve player safety? Plus, get to know the Cowboys’ defensive backs with a new batch of player profiles. That’s all ahead in the News and Notes.
The Cowboys closed out their preseason schedule with a whimper. Take a look at the major takeaways from the performance against the Jaguars. | From @NoHuddle
The Dallas Cowboys’ interminably long preseason has mercifully come to a close. The visiting Jacksonville Jaguars played their first-string units against the Cowboys’ backups, jumping out to a 14-0 lead before winning the exhibition by a final score of 34-14.
The Cowboys now hold the ignominious distinction of being the only team to lose four preseason games in 2021. To be fair, they were one of only two teams to play that many, and it’s also important to remember that these game results don’t matter in the slightest, but it’s a tough look nonetheless for a head coach trying to establish winning as the norm.
Today’s good, bad and ugly is mostly about the latter two than it is the former. But as always, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
The Cowboys waived the second-year punter; Bryan Anger takes over while newly signed Lirim Hajrullahu assumes preseason kicking duties. | From @ToddBrock24f7
The writing was on the wall in Dallas for punter Hunter Niswander. Now it’s been turned into an official press release.
Former CFL All-Star kicker Lirim Hajrullahu, brought in for a workout on Wednesday and then formally signed by the team on Thursday, will be handling all preseason kicking and field goal duties starting this Saturday night versus Houston.
Punter Hunter Niswander, kicking (for the first time) throughout camp, was placed on the waived/injured list in order to make room on the roster. Niswander has been dealing with a back ailment, according to the Cowboys. If he clears waivers, he reverts to the team’s injured reserve list.
Bryan Anger, the veteran punter signed during the offseason, is expected to take over full-time punting responsibilities.
As for Hajrullahu, his Cowboys tenure figures to be a short one if all goes according to the club’s master plan. The organization maintains that Greg Zuerlein will be ready to go for the season opener September 9th after recovering from his own back injury. He connected on eight of eight warmup field goal attempts before the team’s preseason game in Arizona. Zuerlein remains on the Physically Unable to Perform List for now, with apparently no plans by the coaching staff to put him in a live-fire situation in either of the Cowboys’ final two preseason contests.
Niswander came on last season in relief of Chris Jones. Over eight games, he punted 26 times and ended the 2020 campaign with a 47.2-yard average.
The Cowboys maintain Greg Zuerlein will be fine Week 1, but he remains on the PUP list. Now the team is looking at a former CFL All-Star. | From @ToddBrock24f7
The Cowboys are, to hear them tell it, all set at the kicker position, despite the fact that their presumed specialist remains on the Physically Unable to Perform list. And that last year’s punter- who the team has all but admitted won’t be sticking around long because there’s a different punter waiting in the wings- has been learning how to kick field goals and extra points for the first time this preseason.
Now, just a couple days before the club’s third preseason game, Dallas is reportedly bringing in another kicker.
Yep, all set there.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero explained Tuesday that the Cowboys have scheduled a workout with free agent Lirim Hajrullahu. The 31-year-old is a Canadian Football League veteran, having played for three squads from 2014 to 2020. He was named a CFL All-Star twice.
The Carolina Panthers signed him to a reserve/future contract earlier this year, but waived him soon after. Prior to that, Hajrullahu spent the 2020 offseason with the Rams, where he just missed overlapping with special teams guru John Fassel, now the coordinator in Dallas.
Previously with Rams and Panthers, free agent kicker Lirim Hajrullahu, working out for Dallas Cowboys, per a league source, was a CFL all-star who converted 238 of 287 career field goals with a long field goal of 56 yards and a 44.1 punting average https://t.co/xwLTUMwtiA
Fassel has expressed confidence that kicker Greg Zuerlein will be fully ready for the start of the regular season following offseason back surgery. Hunter Niswander, the young punter who took over for an injured Chris Jones last year- and then kept the job- has been handling all kicking duties during training camp. The club, though, has made it clear that they expect Bryan Anger, signed in April, to be their punter in 2021, and that Niswander was being allowed to learn kicking in camp to help him to build resume tape.
While Niswander is seen as the odd man out, the Hajrullahu workout does raise questions about the team’s kicking specialists heading into the season. They appear to have no kickers they have full confidence in for Saturday’s game.
Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegramtweeted Tuesday that “there has been no setback” with Zuerlein, citing a source.
Zuerlein took warmup kicks prior to last week’s preseason tilt in Arizona; Anger did the holding for those and was active for the game, punting once. Niswander handled kicks, as he did in the Hall of Fame Game. He is 4-of-6 on field goal attempts with one PAT conversion this preseason.
Cowboys K Greg Zuerlein just tried and converted all eight field goals he attempted pregame, his deepest a 43-yarder. One kissed off left post. Believed to be his first full-operation kicks (with snapper and holder) since back surgery. Punter Bryan Anger held for all eight. pic.twitter.com/GB3Eukh2db
With Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy putting more importance on the team’s third exhibition game, perhaps the Niswander Kicking Experiment has reached its end. Or possibly Zuerlein isn’t as close to a return as the team would like. Or maybe Fassel wants to help another promising leg (who has ties to his friends on the Los Angeles staff) build some tape himself. Or perhaps he’s just staying abreast of current options, as he- and special teams coordinators in general- are prone to do.
The workout is tomorrow and you can read into this different ways: 1 Greg Zuerlein (back) might not be ready Week 1. 2. Hunter Niswander needs a break on his leg. 3. Cowboys just want a leg. 4. Just want to see what’s on the market in case something happens.
Or maybe the kicker who fled his native war-torn Kosovo as a boy and has now found his way to America’s Team is just too good a Hard Knocks story to pass up. Even if it is just for a couple weeks.
After a disastrous 2019 on special teams, it took just two off-season’s to rebuild the Dallas Cowboys units under John Fassel.
There was work to do to improve all areas for the Dallas Cowboys when Mike McCarthy arrived in January of last year. The offense was good but needed some fresh insight and the defense was regressing. The area that needed the most work, however, may have been the special teams units. It had been in decline for years and finishing 2019 as one of the worst units in the league, change was absolutely necessary.
In came one of the best teams coaches in the NFL, John Fassel who brought with him a commitment to improving all facets of the unit. Change was needed, both in approach and innovation, which Fassel provided. Under the guru, the Cowboys showed they were on the right path.
In 2019, the #Cowboys special teams finished 30th in DVOA.
In 2020 under John Fassel, they improved all the way to 7th.
I know it's easy to focus on the failed trick plays, but Fassel definitely helped pull DAL's ST out of the NFL's doldrums in 2020.
Dallas wasn’t resting on their laurels and continued to overhaul their special teams. It took just two offseasons to remake the units and the Cowboys now have a drastically different look than they did before McCarthy and Fassel took over.
Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
The process began with bringing in kicker Greg Zuerlein to stabilize that phase after the team released Dan Bailey. Zuerlein came in as a Fassel favorite and he had a lot of success in his first season with the Cowboys. The veteran made 34 of 41 kicks, but six of his seven misses were on kicks from beyond 50-yards out and he nailed every kick shorter than 40 yards. On the flip side, he missed three extra points. Zuerlein needs to be more consistent there, but he was the only major change in the kicking units at the beginning of last year.
Much to team observers’ dismay, Dallas held onto incumbent punter Chris Jones to start the 2020 season. A core muscle injury to Jones changed that proposition and forced the Cowboys to look outside the organization, where they eventually found Hunter Niswander. Dallas got much better results from Niswander and he’ll now compete with recently signed Bryan Anger for punting duties in 2021.
The other major roster shakeup was the franchise choosing to not re-sign their longest-tenured player, long snapper L.P. Ladouceur. It was a shock to see the organization walk away from a player who had never missed a game in his 16 seasons with the Cowboys, nor did he ever have an errant snap.
To replace Ladouceur, Dallas signed LS Jake McQuaide, who played for Fassel with the Los Angeles Rams. McQuaide has also never missed a game and has two Pro Bowls on his resume.
The exit of Ladouceur this offseason meant the Cowboys have replaced all three of their main special teams parts, the team replaced its kicker, punter and long snapper in the span of 16 months.
Dallas also made key signings to keep the special teams moving in the right direction. Coverage unit ace C.J. Goodwin was brought back as one of the best players on the unit and the Cowboys added safety Jayron Kearse to give the coverage teams a bump as well. The 2021 draft also brought forth many players who should further boost the overall speed and athleticism of both the coverage and return units. Towering speedster Simi Fehoko (6-foot-4, 227 pounds, 4.44 40-yard time) immediately come to mind.
(AP Photo/Roger Steinman)
Last season, Fassel’s influence helped transform running back Tony Pollard from an unsure, hesitant return man to one of the league’s most electric options as he finally capitalized on the skills that make him a talented change of pace option.
Pollard’s timidity was still present early in the year, but by midseason he was breaking off big gains. From Week 7 on he had three different returns of at least 60 yards and improved his kickoff return average from 17.5 in 2020 to 23.9 in 2021.
Tavon Austin led the club in punt returns in 2019 with 17, averaging just 4.9 per return. Rookie CeeDee Lamb had 24 returns and averaged 7.2 per jaunt.
These are now the baselines for the competitions heading into 2021 training camp and Fassel’s technique coaching along with blocking schemes are to thank for the steps up.
Aside from the turnover in players to improve the units, Fassel has also brought in a new philosophy.
The Cowboys tried several trick plays on special teams, which came with a moderate amount of success. They didn’t all work, the Thanksgiving fake punt debacle is hard to forget, but there were several attempts that did work.
Zuerlein’s watermelon on-sides kick helped the Cowboys beat the Atlanta Falcons and the throwback punt return against the Pittsburgh Steelers was successful and well executed to the tune of a 73-yard explosion.
McCarthy and Fassel’s willingness to be aggressive and to force opponents to prepare for every situation was a different approach from the previous regime.
It only took one year, and two off-seasons, to change the direction of the Cowboys’ special teams. It’s a vastly different group now and the hope is that Dallas continues to improve from year one to year two.
The rebuild on special teams were needed and the Cowboys are in much better shape now than they were before the duo of McCarthy and Fassel arrived.
You can chat with or follow Ben on twitter @BenGrimaldi.
The two recent free-agency adds will cost Dallas just under $1 million apiece against the salary cap, according to ESPN.
The Cowboys continue their tradition of being thrifty shoppers in free agency. Tuesday brought details of the contracts signed by the two newest members of the organization; both will provide camp competition and possibly regular-season depth in 2021.
As reported by Todd Archer of ESPN, tight end Jeremy Sprinkle and punter Bryan Anger both signed minimum salary benefit deals with the team. That means they’ll count for just under $1 million apiece against the salary cap. Both players received a signing bonus of $137,500. Of the two, Anger has the slightly larger base salary, $1.075 million to Sprinkle’s $990,000.
Punter Bryan Anger and tight end Jeremy Sprinkle signed minimum salary benefit contracts with the Cowboys that will count $987,500 against the cap. They each received a $137,500 signing bonus. Anger has a $1.075 million base salary while Sprinkle has a $990,000 base salary.
Anger’s base salary actually gives him a larger paycheck than current Cowboys starter Hunter Niswander, the who took over last season for the injured Chris Jones. The rookie did enough to keep the job, triggering Jones’s release by the club last month. The 32-year-old Anger is expected to provide competition for Niswander within John Fassel’s special teams unit.
Sprinkle’s base pay takes a big hit from the $2.133 million he last earned in Washington. Entering his fifth season, the 6-foot-5, 255-pound tight end has been used primarily as a blocker. In Dallas, he’ll likely compete for a depth spot behind Blake Jarwin and Dalton Schultz.
After the release of Chris Jones, Niswander became the expected starter at punter. Now, Dallas adds in veteran Bryan Anger for competition.
Dallas released starting punter Chris Jones back in March, completing the overhaul of the special teams unit starting the year prior. Hunter Niswander became the starter over Jones after an injury and lackluster production led to the change. After special team coordinator John Fassel’s overhaul during the season, Niswander finished the season with an average of 47.2 yards over 26 punts during the 2020 season, much better than Jones’s 42.6 average.
On Wednesday, the Cowboys added more competition in the special teams room by adding nine-year veteran Bryan Anger. This is the ninth free agent signing by Dallas, the most in franchise history.
#Cowboys are signing P Bryan Anger to a one-year deal, sources say. Joins Hunter Niswander on the roster after Chris Jones was released last month.
Anger led the NFL in punting yards in 2013 with 4338 and has been a steady starter for three teams during his career. After being a member of the Jaguars, Buccaneers, and Texans, he enters the fray in competition with Niswander for the starting spot in Dallas.
Bryan Anger has averaged over 46 yards per punt in each of his last two seasons (both with the Houston Texans).
Chris Jones' highest yards per punt came in 2016 when he was at 45.9.
Needless to say it wasn't going to be hard for the Cowboys to improve from Chris Jones.
Niswander’s average in 2020 was 0.8 yards higher than Anger and training camp will likely decide who overtakes the starting role. After a promising end to the season for the Northwestern product, he will have to prove that he can outperform a veteran in Anger.
Anger punted all 16 games for the Texans in 2020, providing 54 boots for an average of 46.4 yards per punt. Anger also kicked off twice for Houston in 2020.
“Bryan is an especially talented punter, always has been,” former special teams coordinator Tracy Smith told reporters on Oct. 27, 2020. “High draft pick, one of the highest drafted punters of all time. Has got the talent, he came in with that. And he’s a hard worker. He shows up every day. He’s good with the other guys. He’s a good holder, and he works on his craft. He punts and punts and punts. And he’s had good results to show for it.”
The Jacksonville Jaguars drafted Anger in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft from Cal. Anger was the highest-drafted specialist since 2012 until the Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted Roberto Aguayo with a second-round pick in 2016.
