After a tough start, Cardinals’ Phil Dawson glad to contribute to a win
Oct 1, 2017, 7:27 PM | Updated: 8:32 pm
Arizona Cardinals kicker Phil Dawson (4) kicks celebrates his field goal against the San Francisco 49ers wth teammates during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Phil Dawson doesn’t miss a lot of field goal attempts — especially those inside 45 yards.
But for whatever reason, he has in 2017, his first year with the Arizona Cardinals.
Dawson missed a field goal attempt in each of his first three games with his new team. Yes, he did kick a game-winner in overtime against Indianapolis in Week 2, but three misses is normally a season’s worth for the 42-year-old.
Week 4 against San Francisco was a different story for Dawson. He connected on all four of his attempts against his old team, including a 32-yarder with 7:41 left in the fourth quarter that ultimately sent the game to overtime. The Cardinals won 18-15 on a Carson Palmer-to-Larry Fitzgerald touchdown pass with 38 seconds remaining in the extra period.
Dawson and his 49ers counterpart, Robbie Gould, were going back-and-forth all afternoon long.
“Yeah, it seemed like it was ping-pong all day,” he said. “I mean, they’d kick one and we’d kick one and then they’d kick one. It was like we were down three the whole game and that continued for five quarters.
“I just tried to stay in my routine and stay in the moment and be ready if my name was called.”
Dawson was ready but wasn’t willing to say if Sunday’s performance atones for his uncharacteristic misses in the season’s first three weeks.
“No. There’s no getting those back,” Dawson said. “It’s been a tough couple weeks. It’s nice to contribute to a team win and I’ll take that any day of the week.”
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