Poor clock management costs Dallas Cowboys chance at victory Sunday

Had the Dallas Cowboys had better clock management Sunday against Arizona, they just might have pulled off a comeback win. The Cardinals appeared to fumble the ball just before the two-minute warning, but the officials ruled that Chase Edmunds was down.

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy could have challenged the play, but he was out of timeouts. Per NFL rules, you must have at least one timeout to challenge a play. Because the play also occurred prior to the two-minute warning, it was not automatically reviewed.

That's for sure a Chase Edmunds fumble. Tough one for the Cowboys pic.twitter.com/6wjHZ5zplM

— Roto Street Journal (RSJ) (@RotoStJournal) January 3, 2022

Dallas trailed the entirety of the game, but made a valiant comeback effort late. The Cowboys scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, completing a two-point conversion on the last one to pull within three points.

Had McCarthy not used up all of the team’s timeouts, Dallas could have gotten the ball back with a chance to tie or win. Instead, Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray kneeled three straight times to run out the clock and secure a 25-22 victory.

The loss was critical for the Cowboys, as it dropped them from the number two seed to the number four seed in the NFC playoff standings. Arizona stayed put as the five seed, meaning the two teams would face each other in the first round if they postseason started today.

Murray finished the game 26-of-38 for 263 yards passing and a pair of touchdowns. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott had 226 yards and three touchdowns by comparison.

Dallas will look to shake off the loss next week as they close out the regular season against Philadelphia. Kickoff for that game is set for 1 p.m. ET next Sunday. After that, it’s on to the postseason for the first time since 2018.

As painful as this loss is, it can hopefully serve as a lesson on clock management for the Dallas Cowboys before the playoffs begin.