The Dallas Cowboys coaching staff made several questionable decisions during the final minute of the team's 34-31 loss in Brazil on Sunday, and it's safe to say that Jerry Jones was not happy with what he saw. During an interview on Tuesday with 105.3 the Fan in Dallas, Jones was asked how he felt about the coaching gaffes at the end of the game and whether the coaching staff offered him an acceptable explanation for why they happened. "There is no explanation you're satisfied with.
None," Jones told 105.3 the Fan in Dallas. "Let's be sure that we all understand that. They [the coaches] don't have one that they're satisfied with." Jones was specifically asked about Brian Schottenheimer's decision to use a timeout with just 14 seconds left to play in the game.
On a second-and-goal from Baltimore's 7-yard line, Dak Prescott scrambled for a 2-yard gain and that's when Dallas used its third and final timeout. With the Cowboys heading into a third down, it was pretty clear they were only going to run one more play, and if that failed, they were going to kick a field goal. Since they were only going to run one more play, they could have called a timeout with about 10 seconds left -- instead of 14 -- and that would have left the Ravens with almost no time to use at the end of the game.
The third-down play is where another questionable coaching decision came in. On the play, which was coming out of the timeout, Schottenheimer said he told Prescott to throw it to George Pickens or throw it away. "It had to go to [Pickens] or throw it away," Schottenehimer said of the play.
"He was throwing it away. I overcoached him." Prescott ended up throwing it away so quickly that the clock only ran from 14 seconds down to 10, and he threw it away even though Pickens appeared to be open. Dak throws it away when George Pickens had the separation for a TD. pic.twitter.com/JyP9dMytvN After the third-down failure, Brandon Aubrey tied the game at 31 with a short field goal.
Following the kick, the clock still had seven seconds left, which was enough time for Baltimore to get in position for a game-winning 56-yard field goal from Tyler Loop. If the Cowboys had burnt some more time before using their timeout or not called for a touchback on the ensuing kickoff following Aubrey's field goal, the game almost certainly would have gone to overtime. "We made mistakes during that time," Jones admitted.
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