Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy defends late Dak Prescott draw

In what may go down as the single most unexpected play of the entire NFL playoffs, Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys shockingly ran a quarterback draw with no timeouts in hand as his side trailed the San Francisco 49ers 23-17 with under 15 seconds remaining in Sunday’s game. Prescott then gave the football to center Tyler Biadasz instead of umpire Ramon George, a move that prevented the signal-caller from spiking it before time expired. 

Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy met with the media on Wednesday and defended his much-maligned decision in the contest’s waning moments. 

“We had great confidence in that situation because we were just trying to get inside the 30-yard line to change the play-call for the final play. So, it’s the right call based on our preparation,” McCarthy said, according to Chase Goodbread of the league’s website. “It’s a 13-second threshold is the call. So, that 14 seconds, in my view, that’s the right call.”

McCarthy insisted that any player can spot the ball and that all an umpire has to do is “touch it” before a quarterback can snap it without being flagged for a false start, a penalty that would’ve caused a 10-second runoff and, in this instance, the end of the game. 

Regardless of any explanations offered by McCarthy or Prescott, that was a game-deciding “pass or fail” moment that Dallas ultimately got wrong with its postseason life on the line. As for his future and his job security, McCarthy added he’s had “very positive conversations” with Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones and that he’s moving forward assuming he’ll remain head coach through the offseason.