For a few seconds, Brandon Aubrey lined up to aim for history.
The Dallas Cowboys kicker ultimately did not attempt a 71-yard field goal late in the first half of Sunday’s season-opening rout of the Cleveland Browns, but he nearly had the opportunity. So, does he think he could’ve made the kick, five yards longer than any other successful try in an NFL regular-season game?
“No idea,” Aubrey said afterward.
Turns out, the 29-year-old former soccer star has never tried a kick of 70 yards, even in practice or in his free time. He has, however, made all 11 of his field goals from 50 or yards or longer since entering the NFL last season.
And he proved Sunday he had enough leg power to nail a 66-yarder, which would’ve tied the NFL record.
The Cowboys, leading the Browns 20-3 in the waning moment of the first half, moved the ball just across midfield and sent Aubrey out for a field goal with four seconds left. Dallas tried the 66-yarder, and it briefly appeared successful — the snap and hold were smooth, and Aubrey’s kick soared through the Ohio air and cleared the crossbar by at least a few feet.
But officials waved the play off. The snap came a split second too late. Delay of game.
Aubrey exhaled and walked back into position for another field goal attempt after the penalty, this time from 5 yards further away. After the game, Aubrey said he was confused — he assumed the whistle was for a Browns timeout and not a penalty, so he thought the kick was going to be another 66-yard try.
“I didn’t even realize what was going on,” Aubrey said. “I thought they iced me.”
Coach Mike McCarthy understood the situation and said he was disappointed Aubrey didn’t get a chance kick from 71 yards, “especially because he hit” the long attempt that officials waved off.
Holding a 17-point lead, McCarthy ultimately chose to bring Aubrey to the sideline and send his offense back on the field to avoid the risk of an unusual play swinging momentum toward Cleveland.
“I just got a little nervous when they put the returner back there on the 71,” McCarthy said.
Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker set the previous NFL record with a 66-yard field goal to win a game in Detroit in 2021. Aubrey hit a 66-yarder in the preseason this year, but his official career-long remains last season’s rocket from 60.
Sunday, Aubrey booted a 57-yard kick through the uprights with room to spare earlier in the second quarter and finished the game 4-for-4 on field goals.
The Cowboys play home games in a dome at AT&T Stadium, and Aubrey said Sunday’s conditions at the outdoor Huntington Bank Field presented a challenge. He noticed a wind going right to left around the 20-yard line in front of the end zone where he kicked both his 57-yarder and negated 66-yard attempt.
“There’s definitely an element of exactly how much you have to adjust to the wind, figure out exactly how far it’s moving your ball and at what range it starts moving,” Aubrey said. “At least it wasn’t a wind in my face going the other way.”
Each time Aubrey had to contend with the wind — or anything else — in the season-opener, he rose to the task. And though McCarthy didn’t let him try a record-breaking field goal, Aubrey said he feels the trust of his coach.
Fox color commentator Tom Brady said on the broadcast he expected the Cowboys to punt in the second quarter when they faced a fourth down from the Browns’ 39-yard line. Instead, Aubrey went out to hit his longest field goal of the day.
“Just to have no hesitation on fourth-and-five, to call a 57-yard field goal into wind, means a lot to me,” Aubrey said.
That long make, Aubrey added, was “a tough kick in its own right — maybe overshadowed by the 66.”
Imagine if he tried it from 71.