How bad was the failed onside dropkick for Michael Dickson?
One of the biggest blunders of Wild Card weekend for the NFL Playoffs was a bad onside drop kick from the former All-American punter Michael Dickson.
The NFL Playoffs delivered on the front of nail-biting excitement and entertainment during the Wild Card round on the first full weekend of January 2019. The New Year is here with a loaded slate of NFL Playoff action, but not everything was glorious for some of the more notable former Texas Longhorns football players in the Wild Card round. That includes Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowl rookie punter Michael Dickson.
The end to the collegiate career for the former Longhorns punter Michael Dickson was great as he was an unlikely winner of the Texas Bowl MVP honors in the win over the Mizzou Tigers last year. Dickson was also the Ray Guy Award winner last year as the nation’s best punter. A great rookie campaign in the NFL also led to him getting Pro Bowl honors and posted some of the best punting numbers across the entire league.
Some of the good fortune Michael Dickson has thus far in his rookie year seemed to run out in Seattle’s Wild Card round meeting with quarterback Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys. Although the Cowboys controlled the pace for most of the showdown against the Seahawks, it started to slip away from them in the fourth quarter. Seattle got itself a touchdown and two-point conversion late to give them a chance if the onside kick could be recovered.
Seattle gave its onside kick opportunity in the hands (or foot) of the talented Michael Dickson. Earlier in the year against the Chicago Bears, Dickson showed the unique ability to pull off the dropkick on a kick-off. It didn’t work out as well for him in this Wild Card round meeting against the Cowboys.
A bit surprised that Michael Dickson's skillset hasn't been tapped for innovation in onside kicks. Like how about a drop kick where he drives the ball right back into the ground so it gives an unprecedentedly high forward bounce?
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) January 6, 2019
It seemed like the onside dropkick that Michael Dickson attempted against the Cowboys hit his foot wrong. He overshot it by more than 10 yards which led to a very telling reaction from Seattle head coach Pete Carroll. An injured Sebastian Janikowski also led to Dickson attempting the onside kick in the first place.
With Sebastian Janikowski appearing to get hurt on the final play of the first half, punter Michael Dickson is attempting field goals with Tyler Ott holding during halftime. Pete Carroll has previously said Dickson would drop-kick field goals if needed.
— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) January 6, 2019
The national pundit and social media outcry after that failed onside dropkick from Dickson was pretty intense. All-around it was a bad weekend for young punters and kickers in the NFC. Chicago’s kicker, Cody Parkey, caused the most controversy and social media uproar of the initial weekend of NFL Playoff action when he hit the post on a game-winning field goal try and let the Philadelphia Eagles walk away with the one-point victory.
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However, the big difference between Dickson and Parkey in this situation is the way each special teams figure played up to this point. Dickson is a Pro Bowler and statistical standout as a rookie, and Parkey had some previous trouble during the regular season with missing field goals and extra-point attempts. Dickson should be able to stave off this error in the end.