(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)
I think Brandon Aubrey is the best kicker in the NFL, but what's the deal with his kickoffs this season? It seems he has kicked off out of bounds a lot over the first three games. Are the coaches specifically asking him to keep it near the sidelines? Is he just mis-hitting the ball? We can't keep giving teams the ball at the 40-yard line. What's the fix? – Warren Brodeur/McDonough, GA
Mickey: Slow down there, Warren. Brandon is doing exactly what the coaching staff is asking him to do. It's called "dirty kicks," and not easy to perfect. The idea is to kick a ball landing between the 20 and goal line that is more of a line drive that is hard to field, and Aubrey has worked hard on trying to perfect these types of kicks. And if possible, he wants the ball to also land between the numbers and the sideline, pinning in the returner into a confined space to aid the coverage. Some of the reason for this is the Cowboys inability to cover kicks. And unfortunately, against the Ravens, their returner misjudged one kickoff that went over his head and when the oblong ball landed it bounced crazily to the side and out. This happened twice giving the Ravens the ball at the 40, and why Aubrey was instructed to kick the ball out the back of the end zone to avoid another one either rolling out of bounds or the Cowboys inability to cover a kick in play and concede placing the ball at the 35.
Tommy: Aubrey, and many NFL kickers nowadays, are trying to execute dirty balls along the sidelines on kickoffs. Essentially, they're trying to create unpredictable bounces that could end up confusing the returner or force them into misreading the trajectory of a kick that would ultimately create a potential mishap. We already saw it executed successfully a few times against the Commanders and Ravens, when the returner bobbled the ball and it led to a shorter return. Remember, the Cowboys coverage unit can begin pursuing the ball as soon as it hits a spot in the landing zone.
Now, some of what you just have to live with sometimes is when the ball takes a certain bounce and it goes out of bounds. Last week, one of those instances was where the ball took an unfortunate roll out at the 1 yard line, which you can probably live with, but the other going out around the 20 just can't happen. Yes, Aubrey is supposed to keep it near the sideline because it's less effective otherwise. Hopefully that explanation gives some context.
Mailbag
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