USAT: Cowboys Wire audio clip

USAT: Cowboys Wire

Jan 17, 2022

The Cowboys lost more than one game during the regular season by putting too much of the game in the hands of the referees. Poetically fitting, then, that quarterback Dak Prescott failing to put the ball in the officials’ hands is what brought their postseason to a premature end. Despite another frustratingly flat performance for most of the afternoon in Arlington, the Cowboys inexplicably found themselves within striking distance of a thrilling walkoff score. But with 14 seconds left and no timeouts remaining, the Cowboys- just as inexplicably- ran a quarterback draw. Prescott picked up 24 yards (an easy accomplishment with no defenders patrolling the middle of the field) and slid down at the 49ers 24-yard-line. The clock showed nine seconds when he hit the turf. As players from both teams hustled to the spot, CBS play-by-play man Jim Nantz questioned the decision, wondering aloud if there would be time for the ball to be set, snapped, and spiked. Color man Tony Romo seemed to believe there was… until umpire Ramon George entered the frame. What a way to end the game! #SuperWildCard pic.twitter.com/esKKpbkrQn — NFL (@NFL) January 17, 2022 - Prescott had tried to place the ball himself by giving it to center Tyler Biadasz. Biadasz had set the ball on the turf and gripped it. But rules state that George has to touch the ball. As he moved to do that, he bumped into both Cowboys. By the time George inched the ball back slightly and got out of the way, the clock hit zeroes before Prescott called for the snap. “Honestly, just got hit from behind,” Prescott told reporters. “When I gathered myself and saw two seconds, I thought I could get the snap and get it down before time expired. I’m not sure exactly what happened other than that.” Nothing happened after that, though, as far as the official box score shows. After a brief discussion on the field, crew chief Alex Kemp declared the game over. The play call itself was questionable in the eyes of many football minds: too risky, given the circumstances. While getting the ball closer to the end zone certainly offers more options to the offense, most experts pointed out that the play was simply run too late, and that Prescott simply ran too far. “I have no problem with the call,” head coach Mike McCarthy said in his postgame press conference. “Based on being that tight, 14 seconds, we should clearly get the ball spiked there. I haven’t seen the replay … but I was shocked as anybody on offense that we didn’t get to that last play.” I'm told OC Kellen Moore called the QB run and Mike McCarthy was on the headset to OK it. Not either's finest hour. Dak should have checked off. I don't get any of it. — Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) January 17, 2022 - It was Week 5 of the 2020 season when Prescott stayed on his feet just a little too long, exposing himself to an open-field tackle that snapped his leg and effectively ruined the Cowboys’ season. The 2021 campaign officially ended after he tried to eke out a few more yards than he probably should have; if Prescott goes down just a few yards earlier, there’s likely enough time for officials to spot the ball and execute the clock-stopping spike. “That was the best option,” McCarthy said of the play call. “Do you want to be running a Hail Mary play from the 50-yard-line, or do you want to run five verticals from the 25-yard-line? So that’s the decision. It’s the right decision.” Mike McCarthy has no regrets pic.twitter.com/Wuh2xAq4CX — PFF (@PFF) January 17, 2022 - But in the chaos that followed the 23-17 San Francisco victory, several Cowboys coaches and players were more critical of the officials’ role in the game’s final seconds than of their own decisions or execution. “I’ve never seen that come down the way it came down,” McCarthy said, “as far as the collision between the umpire and the quarterback. We were trying to get inside the 30-yard-line to set up the last play. The mechanics were intact, I thought, from our end of it.” McCarthy then went on to say that he was told the Cowboys offense would be given one more chance to snap the ball, considering the contact between George and his players as time expired. “The communication that I was given on the sideline [was] that they were reviewing it, that they were going to put time back on the clock. And the next thing I know, they’re running off the field. That’s the only facts I have for you.” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy says he was told they were going to put time back on clock for last play. Hasn t seen the ref run into a quarterback before. pic.twitter.com/XPciWA0Z9s — Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) January 17, 2022 - “The execution between us and the official spotting the ball obviously wasn’t in tune,” McCarthy added when pressed about the confusion of the game’s final seconds. “We shouldn’t have had any problem getting the ball spotted there: is that the quote you re looking for?” “That’s definitely frustrating,” wide receiver Cedrick Wilson explained, “because we practice end-of-the-game every practice. We thought we had more time on the clock to clock it, and we didn’t.” “We’ve done that all year in practice. We had enough time on the clock. We just didn’t get it off in time to clock it,” kicker Greg Zuerlein said. “We’re not blaming anybody. It’s a bang-bang play. Fourteen seconds left, everyone is running around like crazy people. It’s just one of those things that didn’t go our way.” But others in the Dallas locker room had blamed officiating for their losses to Las Vegas and Arizona earlier in the season, some even hinting at a sort of anti-Cowboys bias by referees. That made Kemp and his crew easy targets for the players after Sunday’s late comeback attempt ended with a whimper. “There were at least a couple of seconds left,” said tackle La’el Collins. “The ref kind of ran into Tyler. That was the end of the ball game. I was really hopeful we’d have got another play, at least another snap off, and gave it a shot. It was out of our control.” “From what I could see, the ref couldn’t really keep up. So we couldn’t get that last play off,” shared wideout Amari Cooper. “We practice those situations all the time, and we thought that we had time. Like I said, from my vantage point, it seemed that the ref was too slow.” “In hindsight, yeah, I could’ve went down sooner if I’d have known all of that was going to play out that way,” Prescott said. “But I also think if I don’t get hit from behind, it’s clean and we’re clocking the ball with, at minimum, a second if not two or three on the clock.” While officials surely played at least some part in how the game ended, they also had a say in the proceedings up to that point. Dallas was flagged 14 times on the day, costing them 89 yards of field position, often in key moments. McCarthy refused to call his players undisciplined, however, despite the Cowboys being the most-penalized team in the NFL. I wouldn’t say were undisciplined,” the coach argued. “I think the fact that, the physicality, when it’s weighed, you’re trying to get your team to a certain play style, there’s definitely some growing pains that we’ve gone through. But I’m not going to sit here and go through the officiating. I think over the long haul, you hope it balances out. I thought they would let these teams play today, but that’s for them to answer, and I’m sure they’ll have their comments on how they felt the game was officiated.” They did indeed. ESPN’s Todd Archer served as the pool reporter for the Pro Football Writers of America in speaking with Kemp after the game about the way it ended. Archer: “Can you walk through the mechanics of the situation on the final play of the game and what is supposed to happen with the umpire spotting the ball?” Kemp: “The umpire spotted the ball correctly.” Archer: “Was the umpire in a reasonable length of space away from where thew play was?” Kemp: “Yes, absolutely.” Archer: “Did you hear anything from New York or from the in-house replay team before ending the game?” Kemp: “No, we discussed it on the field.” Archer: “When the umpire collides with the quarterback and the center, is there anything that changes, when there is a collision between the player and the umpire?” Kemp: “No, the umpire was simply spotting the ball properly. He collided with the players as he was setting the ball because he was moving it to the proper spot.” Archer: “What is the mechanics on the play when the officials are trailing the action, when the clock is running down? Are the officials running with the play?” Kemp: “We’re trailing the play, keeping proper distance so that we can identify fouls, if there are any. Once the play is over, the umpire immediately goes to spot the ball, and that’s what he did.” Archer: “Is there any length or yardage that the officials are supposed to stay within as the play is unfolding?” Kemp: “No. Every play is different.” Archer: “Just to be clear, there was no replay assist or a call from New York on this play?” Kemp: “That is correct. That’s handled by the officials on the field.” Archer: “Would that be something that would be looked at before you called the end of the game? Or, once you called the end of the game, is that the end of the game?” Kemp: “That’s the end of the game, once we confirmed it with the officials on the field.” Archer: “New York could be involved in this situation if there’s an issue with the line to gain, correct?” Kemp: “That could trigger a replay review, yes, exactly. And that wasn’t the case here, of course.” “In hindsight, it’s just tough,” Prescott said. “Tough to accept.” There’s much- about the game, the season, the coaching staff, the organization, the playcalling, the players’ accountability, and not just Sunday’s final moments- that Cowboys fans find tough to accept in the wake of yet another postseason loss. Many pregame-show pundits had implored Prescott to use his legs more in this game. Indeed, it was a five-year touchdown scramble by the Cowboys’ $40 million-dollar man that had closed the scoring gap with eight minutes to play. But ultimately, Dallas saw its postseason run cut short on yet another disastrous Prescott run. To hear the Cowboys tell it, though, this time it was the fault of the men in stripes. Email Sign up Like this article? Sign up for the Cowboys Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning An error has occured Please re-enter your email address. Thanks for signing up! 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Mar 17, 2022