At some point on Sunday afternoon, Brett Maher will trot out onto the Levi's Stadium grass. Fox's Kevin Burkhardt will ominously narrate like it's a live shot of a hostage negotiation; delirious 49ers fans will be hooting and hollering; pretty much everyone else watching the game will be very uncomfortable.
The Dallas Cowboys kicker missed four extra points on Monday night, a bizarre subplot in an otherwise thorough undressing of Tom Brady's Bucs. In nearly a century of NFL record-keeping, no kicker had ever done that. So in a matchup reprising the wildest playoff game of last season and one of the biggest rivalries in the league, all eyes will be on a journeyman kicker.