Dak Prescott addresses controversial ending in playoff loss

Referee Alex Kemp said that umpire Ramon George spotted the ball correctly in the closing seconds of Sunday night’s game between the Cowboys and 49ers, according to a pool report. However, Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott denies that fact. He insists that he and the Cowboys did everything properly in the closing seconds of the game in order to have time to spike the ball before the clock ran out.

“I thought I did (spike the ball in time),” Prescott said in an article written by Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk. “I didn’t hear what the ref said, what their announcement was. I just saw them running off the field and the Niners running on the field and celebrating, so [I didn’t] [understand] what had happened.”

The Cowboys were out of timeouts with 14 seconds remaining when Dallas offensive coordinator Kellen Moore called a quarterback draw in order to setup a better pass play than a Hail Mary.

Prescott ran 17 yards to the San Francisco 24-yard line and the Cowboys hurried to the line to try and spike the football before the clock ran out. That didn’t happen as Dallas snapped the ball with one second left and Prescott spiked it with no time on the clock.

Here’s the video of the play below, in case you missed it.

Here's how the #49ers–#Cowboys game ended: Per NFL rules, Dak can't spot the ball on his own and snap it. Ball must be spotted by the ref. By the time that happened, clock reached triple zeroes. pic.twitter.com/NY9H7IHmsD

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 17, 2022

After the game, Prescott explained what he was thinking in the final seconds.

“We were going to get some yards and get down and clock it,” Prescott said. “It’s something we’ve practiced over and over again. Ran. Went and got some yards. Went down. As I was getting behind (center) Tyler (Biadasz), saw four seconds left. I thought there was obviously time to make sure everybody was set, and then honestly, just got hit from behind (by the umpire). Still, when I got up (under center), I saw two seconds. I thought I could get the snap and get it down before time expired. I’m not sure what happened other than that.”

Prescott is in denial

Based on the video evidence, Prescott seems to be in denial. The way the Cowboys’ season ended stings, and he’s trying to look for someone to blame other than himself but the facts aren’t on his side in this case.

Former NFL Executive Scott Pioli criticized Prescott for not handing the football to the umpire to spot, which would have saved him precious seconds with the clock winding down.

Not only that, Prescott and the umpire bumped into each other as Ramon George tried to spot the football. Once again, that’s another mistake he could have controlled.

It was a sad ending to the Cowboys’ 2021-2022 season, no doubt about it. But Prescott and the rest of the team’s players and coaches have nobody but themselves to blame for not showing up on Sunday night when it mattered the most.