http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/article.php?id=7059Dawson looking to bounce back
Steve King, Staff Writer
08.09.2007
Even the good ones hit a speed bump eventually.
And Browns kicker Phil Dawson's turn came in the latter part of 2006.
Through the first 10 games of last year, Dawson looked like his old self. In many ways he looked even better than his old self, which is saying a lot considering how well he had kicked for the Browns since breaking into the NFL with them in that expansion season of 1999.
He was 17-of-20 on field goals. The week after his first miss of the year -- in Week 4 -- Dawson booted four field goals to account for all of the Browns' points in a 20-12 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
The week after his second miss, he set a club record by hitting six kicks -- in as many tries -- and accounted for all but six of the Browns' points in a 32-25 defeat at San Diego.
The way he was kicking at that point, if they had spotted the ball for him on the break wall out on Lake Erie, he might have drilled one from there.
But this was nothing new. He was coming off a 2005 season in which he had made 27 field goals, the second-highest total in franchise history. He had also scored 100 points that year, becoming only the second player in club annals (the other is Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown) to hit the century mark three times.
He entered 2006 as the second-most accurate kicker in NFL history, having hit 83.9 percent of his attempts (135-of-161). Add in what he did through the first 10 contests of last season, and his rate of success had bumped up slightly to an even 84 percent.
Pretty impressive for someone who kicks not in San Diego, Miami or Tampa Bay or in domes in Indianapolis or Minnesota, but rather Cleveland, where, on some game days in November and December, the blowing snow keeps you from even seeing the break wall from Cleveland Browns Stadium.
"I was off to one of my best starts," Dawson said the other day following a training camp practice.
So there was no way he or anyone else could have seen what was coming next.
It began when Dawson missed his only try of the day -- a 48-yarder -- as the Browns were shut out by the Cincinnati Bengals 30-0.
He missed 2-of-3 over the next three weeks, watering down the fact the one he did convert was a season-best 51-yarder.
The following week, he had one blocked for just the fourth time in his career. He finished the season by making 2-of-3 in a 14-6 loss at Houston.
"That last game was huge," Dawson said. "It gave me back some confidence heading into the offseason."
Maybe so, but the damage had already been done.
He made only 4-of-9 kicks in those final six games. He had attempted 29 field goals for the third straight year, but this time, he connected on only 21, his lowest total since 2003, when he was 18-of-21 before sitting out the final three contests with a broken arm.
His accuracy rate of 72.4 percent was his lowest since his rookie season, when he had 66.7 percent (8-of-12).
The only good thing is that he made all of his extra-point tries (25-of-25) for only the third time in his career.
But the Browns pay Dawson -- he signed a five-year contract extension two years ago that takes him through the 2010 season -- to make field goals, not really extra points, and what happened down the stretch last year made everyone's jaw drop. This was not the Phil Dawson they had watched for all those years.
"It was the perfect storm," he said. "I was off on my mechanics, I was having to try some long kicks, the weather was bad and I wasn't getting any breaks."
He quickly added, "Now, I'm not in any way saying that the trouble was just that I had some bad luck. That no doubt played into it. But to be honest, sometimes you hit the ball well and, for whatever reason, it still doesn't go through, and sometimes you hit the ball not that well, and, again for whatever reason, it still goes through. That's the way it had been for me in past years in that I would miss-hit the ball and still make the field goal."
For the first time in his career, Dawson was having pause about his ability to kick the ball through the uprights. He hadn't totally lost his confidence, but he was clearly shaken.
And upset as well.
Ever since he's been with the Browns, they've really struggled to score points. Dawson was, in reality, has been one of their best offensive weapons. As long as he was able to convert anything from about 52 yards on in, the Browns had at least a shot to win the game. But when he's making just 6-of-12 from 40 to 49 yards, as he did in 2006, he's removing a big chunk of the team's ability to score.
And for a guy who is openly tired of the Browns losing and admits he'd trade any of his personal accomplishments -- any of them -- for a championship, it makes it even worse. He felt he had let the team down -- that he was not holding up his end of the bargain.
Is it any wonder, then, that new special teams coordinator Ted Daisher said his No. 1 task heading into this season was not to find a replacement for departed punt returner Dennis Northcutt -- that was No. 2 -- but to help Dawson get back on track?
Daisher and the Browns have no other choice but to make certain that gets done. They desperately need him, as once again this year, the offense could have issues from time to time until the line gels and the quarterback situation is settled, thus making every point really count.
So Dawson did some soul-searching over the winter, but more importantly, he watched tape of his kicks and analyzed what he did wrong, and why.
"It doesn't take much to get a little off with mechanics," he said.
He began his offseason kicking in March, "two months before I normally do. I kicked more this offseason than ever before."
And it shows. He has looked good in camp thus far, hitting from all spots on the field. If you weren't aware there was a problem last season, you wouldn't have known it from his kicking in the last two weeks.
But Dawson knows the real test will come Sept. 9 when the Browns open the regular season by hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers. With a crucial, maybe even season-determining six-game stretch to start the year -- the Browns play four home contests, three of which against their AFC North foes, and have to go to preseason conference championship favorite New England -- it's of the utmost importance that they be ready to go on all cylinders when the bell rings.
And the chances to do that rise dramatically if Phil Dawson is the way he was for the first 7
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