What in the heck were the Dallas Cowboys thinking? That’s all that can be asked after seeing the way their 23-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers went down on Sunday.
The Cowboys got the ball back with 32 seconds left and needed to go 80 yards to win. They moved the ball quickly with three straight passes, bringing up a 2nd-and-1 at the 49ers 41.
That’s when the Cowboys did something inexplicable.
Despite not having any timeouts left, Dallas called a quarterback draw. Dak Prescott rushed up the middle for a gain of 17 yards. But by the time the official fought through the players to spot the ball for the next play, time had expired, and the game ended.
CBS’ Tony Romo was all over the call. He knew that the official had to spot the ball before the Cowboys could spike. The official took a while getting down to the ball to set it, meaning the time ticked away before Dallas could stop the clock. By the time the ball was spotted, time had expired.
Those were the exact risks with calling such a play, and exactly why you don’t call a run up the middle with no timeouts left. There wasn’t enough time to do that.
Prescott should have got down sooner to save more time. Even if he did, the entire situation was way too risky.
Dallas had time for a few shots down the field. Why not try one more pass play to gain an extra 10 yards and get you closer to the end zone? That choice was inexplicable.
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