Dak Prescott Regrets Throwaway As Ravens Stun Cowboys

Here's how it went. The Cowboys trailed 31-28 and had third-and-goal with 10 seconds left. Prescott threw it away, Brandon Aubrey hit a 23-yard field goal to tie it at 31 with 7 seconds on the clock, and Baltimore still had time for one more drive. Lamar Jackson hit Zay Flowers for 27 yards, called timeout with 1 second left, and Tyler Loop banged home a 56-yarder as time expired at the Maracana. That's a 7-second drive to beat you, and the Dallas defense gave it up. Beat writers were already carving up the Cowboys before the Ravens were done celebrating.

Jeff McLane

@Jeff_McLane

Rough, rough look for Christian Parker’s Cowboys defense.

The defense is Christian Parker's first go-round as a coordinator, and it looked like it. But the loudest voice on the Dallas beat went straight past the defense and pinned it on the quarterback, in 4 words.

Clarence Hill Jr

@clarencehilljr

This is on Dak

The Cowboys fall to 1-2, and the play everybody will remember is the one that ended in a field goal instead of a touchdown.

Brian Schottenheimer came to the podium and tried to take the throwaway off his quarterback. His story: Pickens was open, but Prescott has been taught to get rid of it in that spot.

Calvin Watkins

@calvinwatkins

Brian Schottenheimer said on Dak Prescott third down pass to George Pickens he was throwing it away. Schotty said Pickens was open but Prescott is taught to throw it away.

Then he graded himself, and he didn't round up.

Calvin Watkins

@calvinwatkins

Brian Schottenheimer on his play calling: “I give it a F.”

He also went further. Schottenheimer said he overcoached Prescott on the clock, that the priority was making sure Dallas got the field goal, and that the high throw was high on purpose. A coach falling on the sword is nice. A coach saying his offense was told to play for the tie from the 1-yard line area with 10 seconds left is a whole separate problem.

Clarence Hill Jr

@clarencehilljr

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Dak Prescott was throwing the ball to George Pickens away. He said he overcoached him on the time and to make sure they got to field goal. It was a high throw on purpose.

So the head coach says he taught it, he called it, and he gets an F. Now we just needed to hear from the guy who actually threw it.

Prescott didn't want to get into what Schottenheimer had been teaching him. He said the wound was too fresh, and he admitted the thing everybody watching already knew: Pickens was open and he needed to sit on it.

Calvin Watkins

@calvinwatkins

Dak Prescott didn’t want to go into the teachings of Brian Schottenheimer on the throw to George Pickens: “Definitely not right now, maybe in a week. Still fresh, just upset.” Prescott said Pickens was open on the play, needed to sit on it.

Give him credit, he didn't hide behind his coach's cover story. He said he was pissed, said it sucks, and said it's on him.

Clarence Hill Jr

@clarencehilljr

Dak Prescott takes accountability. He said he was throwing the ball away but said he should have been more patient on throw the Pickens. He said it’s on him. He is angry. Said he is pissed. Said it sucks they didn’t get it done offensively

That's the right answer. It also means the quarterback and the coach basically agree on what happened, and neither version makes the Cowboys look good. Either the coach coached a touchdown out of him, or the quarterback bailed on a read he should have trusted.

The throwaway wasn't the only self-inflicted wound. Dallas kicked the ball out of the end zone after Aubrey's tie, so there was no return to burn off clock and Baltimore had 7 full seconds to work with. According to Hill, a kick out of bounds earlier had spooked the Cowboys into going for the touchback.

Clarence Hill Jr

@clarencehilljr

He kicked it out of bounds on the previous kick So they told him to kick it out of the end zone It backfired

Warren Sharp@SharpFootball

why are you kicking this out of the end zone, preserving the entire game clock?? t.co/c5l384Y0U9

On the Baltimore side, nobody was sweating whether Loop had the leg. His own holder said the kick had plenty left over.

Jeff Zrebiec

@jeffzrebiec

Rookie punter/holder Ryan Eckley on Tyler Loop's kick: "It looked like it was good from 80 yards. He crushed that ball."

Hours later Hill was still going through the clock management and figured Dallas could have gotten rid of that last second too. It's a small thing, until the whole game comes down to 1 second and a 56-yard kick.

Clarence Hill Jr

@clarencehilljr

cowboys should have called the big 10 and got that one second taken away

NFL@NFL

LAMAR TO FLOWERS WITH 1 SECOND LEFT @BALvsDAL on CBS/Paramount+ Stream on @NFLPlus t.co/waTW7TbhSQ

Add it up: a touchback that gave time back, a man coverage call on the last defensive snap, and a 1-second window that Jackson used perfectly. The throwaway gets the headlines, but Dallas lost this one in 3 or 4 different ways.

As the night went on, Hill landed on the argument that'll follow this team all week. Schottenheimer can talk about teaching and overcoaching all he wants, but Prescott is the franchise guy and the ball is in his hands.

Clarence Hill Jr

@clarencehilljr

Dak Prescott is the franchise qb making $60 million. He decides what to do with the ball Schotty gave him a reminder. Not an order

J Tuck@jtuck151

Coach told him not to

Prescott's own full explanation, which came out after midnight, pretty much backs that up. He said the coverage should have had Pickens covered 99 times out of 100, that Pickens won anyway, and that he wishes he'd sunk on his back foot and thrown it to the front pylon.

Clarence Hill Jr

@clarencehilljr

Dak Prescott: “The coverage that they were playing, 99 out of 100 times they're supposed to cover GP. That corner is supposed to be outside leverage, funneling him inside to the safety, GP’s GP. He did a great job of winning regardless.  I said, I wish I would have just sank on my back foot and just threw it to the front pylon and trusted it. But it's one of those things you read the coverage, you say, well, they're not giving you that. And unfortunately, I threw the ball away.”

Clarence Hill Jr@clarencehilljr

Dak Prescott takes accountability. He said he was throwing the ball away but said he should have been more patient on throw the Pickens. He said it’s on him. He is angry. Said he is pissed. Said it sucks they didn’t get it done offensively

That's what makes it so brutal. The read said no, the receiver said yes, and a veteran QB with the game on the line went with the read. Dallas is 1-2 with a real chance to stack wins over the next few weeks, but if Schottenheimer's offense is going to play for field goals inside the 10 in crunch time, a 23-yarder to tie isn't going to be enough very often.