Former NFL general manager takes shot at Dak Prescott, Cowboys

There’s no shortage of people giving their two cents on the dramatic ending to the Cowboys-49ers game on Sunday night. Former NFL general manager and long-time front office exec Scott Pioli pointed the finger at the Cowboys’ leadership, Dak Prescott, and preparation for their loss.

“This is why coaches teach situational football!!” Pioli tweeted. “The ball carrier CANNOT set the ball after the play! It’s why you teach players to HAND ball to (the) official in hurry up. Everyone should know that rule and every team should be practicing it!!”

This is why coaches teach situational football!!
The ball carrier CANNOT set the ball after the play! It's why you teach players to HAND ball to official in hurry up. Everyone should know that rule and every team should be practicing it!!#NFL #NFLPlayoff #NFLWildCard

— Scott Pioli (@scottpioli51) January 17, 2022

Dak Prescott and the Cowboys have undoubtedly run two-minute drills hundreds of times during his six seasons in Dallas. Prescott also executed two-minute drills hundreds of times with the Mississippi State Bulldogs. However, with the game on the line and the clock ticking down, all that preparation didn’t matter.

The Cowboys were out of timeouts with 14 seconds remaining when Dallas offensive coordinator Kellen Moore called a quarterback draw in order to set up 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.

Prescott addresses controversial ending

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. “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.”

After the game, Prescott further 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. I 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.”

On3’s Wade Peery contributed to this report.