The Dallas Cowboys' final play call of the 2021 season was as unproductive as it was controversial. Trailing by six with 14 seconds remaining and no timeouts, Dak Prescott ran up the middle for 17 yards and was unable to stop the clock with a spike before time expired. Consequently, a last-second Hail Mary pass from the 24-yard line never occurred, and the underdog San Francisco 49ers prevailed, 23-17, in a wild-card thriller at AT&T Stadium.
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy defended the play call after the game, telling reporters that it was "the right decision" to run Prescott and try to set up a closer Hail Mary attempt. Prescott also told reporters that the team had practiced that play, and it was "tough to accept" how the moment unfolded. An appropriate ending to a game that included several self-inflicted wounds.
"Normally, you need about 20 seconds. That's the safety barrier. Any time you get below that, you're in a hairy area," former NFL lineman Max Starks told The DA Show on Tuesday morning. "Did you ever watch Larry Fitzgerald on a two-minute drill? He gets down, gets up, gets the ball to the ref, and gets lined up. We didn't see that [from Dallas]. We saw them try to spot the ball themselves, and then try to huddle up on the ball and not let the ref in...
"When you think about it, you wasted precious time by not understanding the nuance of the basic mechanics of a two-minute drill. Referee must spot. Yes, you do it in practice and the ball boy comes and places the ball. The ball boy is a pseudo ref in those situations. You must give him space to touch the ball and get out of the way... That's why you wasted additional time, because you weren't situationally aware. I don't feel bad for them in that situation..."
When the clock hit triple zeroes, McCarthy expected a league booth review and Prescott believed his offense should've been granted an additional play. Official Alex Kemp thought otherwise, as he explained to a pool reporter that the umpire did his job correctly, and was "absolutely" in a sensible distance from the end of the run. By rule, the offense can't snap the football until an official has touched it to confirm the spot on the field.
Although the botched QB draw call will be remembered as the decisive play, the Cowboys' top-ranked offense failed to develop any sort of rhythm from start to finish. Prescott -- who showed warning signs of a letdown during the second-half of the campaign -- threw for just 254 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and was sacked five times and hit on nearly half of his dropbacks. Dallas also became the second 500-point offense in NFL history to exit the playoffs in the wild-card round.
The entire NFL conversation between Starks and DA can be accessed in the audio player above.
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