The Dallas Cowboys won 34-30 in Houston on Sunday. For the second straight week, they also came away with questions about how their head coach handled the clock and the kicking game.
The focus this time is the end of the first half at Reliant Stadium, when Dallas sent Brandon Aubrey out for attempts of 62 and 65 yards within roughly four and a half minutes. Neither went through, and Houston scored after both.
Two kicks, six points
With 5:02 left in the second quarter and Dallas trailing 10-6, Aubrey lined up from 62 yards. Will Anderson Jr. blocked it, according to ESPN's play-by-play, and the Texans used the short field to add a 39-yard Ka'imi Fairbairn field goal for a 13-6 lead.
Dallas got the ball back and moved into Houston territory before a 9-yard sack at the 1:17 mark pushed it back toward midfield. After Houston had spent its final timeout, the Cowboys called one of their own with 30 seconds left and sent Aubrey out for a 65-yard attempt. It sailed wide left.
The Texans needed only two plays and 9 yards, the Associated Press reported, before Fairbairn hit from 54 as the half expired for a 16-6 lead.
Asked about the second kick, Schottenheimer said the staff had a target line for Aubrey's range and had cleared it.
"We have our yard lines that we are aiming to get to, and we were over it by a yard or two," he said, as quoted by The Dallas Morning News. "And, like I said, we felt very comfortable that Brandon would make that kick.
And, to that point in the game, you know, I have no question that if for some reason he missed it, that we had plenty of time to fight back. But you're always going to trust your players in those situations."
How the decision was received
Not everyone agreed. Morning News columnist Kevin Sherrington argued a punt would have pinned Houston deep and kept the deficit at one score, and he noted that the blocked 62-yarder was the second Dallas kick to be blocked in consecutive weeks. The AP's weekly takeaways listed the 65-yard try as the most questionable of Schottenheimer's game-management calls Sunday.
Cowboys Wire's Reid Hanson, using expected points, estimated the blocked kick cost Dallas 2.9 points of value and the miss another 2.0. By his count, Aubrey is 1 for 3 from 60 yards or longer this season and 2 for 5 beyond 50.
He went 2 for 4 on Sunday, making kicks of 39 and 50 yards, per ESPN's box score, and Heavy reported he is 8 of 11 on the season.
