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03:25 AM CDT on Sunday, July 16, 2006

By TODD ARCHER / The Dallas Morning News

IRVING – At times last season, the Cowboys' field goal kicking was comedic.

There was Jose Cortez getting his facemask slammed down on his nose by Larry Allen after a missed point-after attempt in San Francisco. And there was Billy Cundiff making a club-record 56-yarder one week against Detroit and missing a clutch 34-yarder the following week in a close loss to Denver.

Then there's the calamity of the Carolina game, in which Cundiff missed two field goal attempts but was lucky enough to have been run into on the second attempt, drawing a penalty.

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Cowboys coach Bill Parcells had to hold his breath whenever he sent out Cortez, Cundiff or Shaun Suisham for a field goal try.

By Parcells' count, the Cowboys could have won 12 games if they had a consistent kicker.

So when the off-season came, finding a kicker was at the top of the list. The Cowboys targeted Matt Bryant, but he re-signed with Tampa Bay. They never got into the Ryan Longwell market and hardly got into the Adam Vinatieri market before Indianapolis signed Parcells' former kicker in New England.

That left the Cowboys with Mike Vanderjagt, the man Vinatieri replaced with the Colts.

It was not a bad backup plan for a team that has never paid big money to a kicker. The Cowboys changed their spending on kickers by giving Vanderjagt a three-year deal worth as much as $6 million that included a $2.5 million signing bonus.

"I think we have a chance to have a better field goal situation," Parcells said during a minicamp. "That would be an understatement."

Whenever Parcells has won, he has had consistent kickers. Given the way his teams play close games, having a clutch kicker is a must. Raul Allegre, Matt Bahr and Vinatieri were those kinds of kickers for Parcells in New York and New England.

Even Cundiff had his moments, connecting on 79.3 percent of his kicks in 2003 (23-of-29) –the last year the Cowboys made the playoffs.

However, Vanderjagt, 36, is the most accurate kicker in NFL history, making 217 of 248 kicks (87.5 percent). He holds the NFL record for consecutive kicks made (42) and has had eight consecutive 100-point seasons.

"I feel like Jerry Jones and Bill feel like they've got somebody here that's going to probably win them two or three more games than they would've won last year," Vanderjagt said last month. "I feel very much wanted and needed here."

To Vanderjagt, that wasn't always the case in Indianapolis. Kickers are remembered for their last kick, and he badly missed a 46-yarder at home with 17 seconds left that would have tied Pittsburgh in the divisional round of last season's playoffs.

"Once I make my first kick, everything will be all right," Vanderjagt said.

Vanderjagt's career numbers are not inflated because of kicking inside the RCA Dome. He has made 87.6 percent of his kicks outdoors and 87.4 percent of his kicks indoors. Kickers like Texas Stadium because of the relatively benign conditions, and Parcells has said the minimum accuracy rate for a kicker should be 80 percent.

The only question surrounding Vanderjagt is his kickoff ability. He last kicked off regularly in 2003, he believes, because Colts president Bill Polian wanted to bring in kickoff specialists. In Vanderjagt's career, however, opponents have averaged just 22.2 yards per return on his kickoffs and returned two for touchdowns.

Under special teams coach Bruce DeHaven, the Cowboys have had some of the best kickoff coverage teams in the NFL, and Parcells doesn't want to use a gameday roster spot on a specialist.

The Cowboys have Suisham on the roster and have worked out a number of kickers, such as Carlos Martinez of the Desperados, but have not signed one.

"I expect to do it," Vanderjagt said. "I think I can do it."

But Vanderjagt is here to win games, something that didn't happen in the kicking game a year ago.

"I feel the pressure," Vanderjagt said. "I feel the expectations. I know there's a lot of pressure, but there's no more pressure than I can put on myself. I expect to be 100 percent."

E-mail tarcher@dallasnews.com