Hard to Get More Consistent Than Eagles’ Henery

November 8, 2012

By Matt Leon

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – 2012 obviously hasn’t gone according to plan to this point for the Eagles. They are 3-5, mired in a four-game losing streak and plagued by struggles on both sides of the ball.

However, second-year kicker Alex Henery has been a consistent bright spot and really has been since he arrived in 2011.

Drafted by the Eagles in the 4th round of the 2011 draft out of Nebraska, you can literally count the number of field goal misses Henery has had on one hand. He is 38 of 42 in his NFL career, including 14 of 15 here in 2012.

“Been pretty happy with the way I’ve been kicking the ball, especially field goals,” Henery tells KYW Newsradio. “Kick-off wise I’ve kind of been up and down, but I’m pretty happy how I’m hitting the ball.”

The Eagles drafted Henery to replace the most successful kicker in franchise history in David Akers, who is now in San Francisco. Despite the big shoes to fill, Henery says he didn’t feel any added pressure to succeed when he came in as a rookie.

“Tried not to worry too much about it,” Henery says. “People try to build it up more than it really is. I was just coming in here to do my job and help out the team any way I can. David was here for a good number of years and was a great kicker here, so I respected that. But I was here to do my job and not really put too much more added pressure on than I needed to.”

Kicking outdoors in the northeast can prove to be a challenge and he says the Linc has its moments.

“It’s probably one of the harder places (to kick)” Henery says. “But I’m from Nebraska and it’s kind of like Nebraska’s stadium. You get your winds coming through the corners and it’s just one of those things, on the day of the game, you go out there and see which way it’s blowing, trust it, and go on kicking like you normally do.”

Henery has had to adjust a bit here in 2012 as his holder changed when the Eagles switched punters from Chas Henry to Mat McBriar, but that change hasn’t interfered with his success.

“It was nice that I was able to work with him in camp. So it made the transition a little bit easier since it was during a game week. Other than that it’s just getting used to the rhythm and the timing and going with it from there.”

Henery and the Eagles host the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at 4:25pm at the Linc.

Can’t-miss season continues as Phil Dawson drills 5 field goals

By Brian Dulik

November 5, 2012

CLEVELAND — Veteran kicker Phil Dawson accounted for every one of the Browns’ points in Sunday’s 25-15 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Dawson made five field goals in five attempts — splitting the uprights from 32, 28, 29, 33 and 41 yards — despite the poor field conditions at Cleveland Browns Stadium.

“To make five field goals today with the grass being all torn up and muddy is awesome,” Cleveland long snapper Christian Yount said. “This shows again why Phil is the best kicker in the NFL and why we all have the utmost confidence in him.”

Though the Browns’ season has been fatally flawed, Dawson has been perfect, making 17 of 17 field goals and 16 of 16 extra points for a team-leading 67 points. He also has connected on his last 23 field goal tries, dating back to 2011.

“Honestly, I was a little worried about shaking the rust off because I didn’t try a field goal in the last two weeks,” said Dawson, who has played in 208 games with Cleveland. “Obviously, Christian’s snap and Reggie (Hodges’ hold) were flawless all day, so it felt just like it always does once we got out there.”

Adding to the level of difficulty, the playing surface got progressively worse because of the rain it absorbed during Superstorm Sandy. Dawson said his approach was slower than usual because it was difficult to maintain solid footing.

The second-leading scorer in Browns history still managed to go 5-for-5 for the third time in his 14-year NFL career. Dawson also owns one 6-for-6 performance on Nov. 5, 2006, at San Diego.

“The field was obviously not ideal, but our grounds crew deserves a tremendous amount of appreciation for getting it in as good of shape as they did,” he said.

“The tight ends and wings on our field-goal block also protected (Baltimore’s) pretty good rush. Because the footing was so iffy, I have to credit those guys for giving me the extra time to dig them out and get the ball through.”

Vote For Dawson

By Ryan Ruiz

November 6, 2012

In another dismal Cleveland Browns season, there is one bright shining star. Since entering the NFL in 1999, Phil Dawson has dominated. The 37 year old makes kick after kick with extreme ease.

In Dawson’s fourteen years in the league, he has never made a Pro Bowl. When a kicker is on a bad team, they are often overlooked for Pro Bowl consideration. This has been the case for Dawson his entire career. With his calm approach every year, it’s time for Dawson to go to the Pro Bowl. Enough is enough, now is the time and it is well deserved.

Why does the reliable veteran deserve to go in 2012? Cleveland’s captain of special teams has been near perfect this year. With the exception of one mishandled snap that was not his fault, Dawson has converted every one his kicks. Nowhere at all have any of the attempts been easy chip shots either. Five of his kicks have been forty yards or more and four have been from fifty yards or more. Yet, he continues to knock them down and is as cool as the other side of the pillow.

The former Texas Longhorn has attempted 17 field goals and has nailed all 17 of them. He is 100% on the year! In Cleveland’s 17 total touchdowns, Dawson is 16 of 17 in the point after.

During last Sunday’s match up against the division rival Baltimore Ravens, Dawson nailed five field goals and single handedly gave the Browns a 15-14 lead. All of Cleveland’s points belonged to Dawson giving him 67 total points on the 2012 campaign. With the Browns struggling to find the end zone often, it has gotten to the point where it is not the Cleveland Browns anymore, it is the Cleveland “Dawsons”. With Presidential election finally here, it’s time to vote for Dawson.