The Cowboys’ chances of winning Sunday’s game against the Ravens in Brazil unraveled in the final seconds of the fourth quarter.
After the team used its final timeout after a short run by quarterback Dak Prescott on second down from the 5-yard-line, they dialed up a pass play that appeared to get wide receiver George Pickens open in the end zone. Prescott threw the ball away as Pickens got free, which both he and head coach Brian Schottenheimer said was by design after the game.
During a Tuesday appearance on 105.3 The Fan, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was asked about the sequence from the timing of the timeout through Prescott’s throw.
“There’s no explanation that you’re satisfied with,” Jones said. “None. Let’s be sure that we all understand that. They don’t have one that they’re satisfied with. We made mistakes during that time, there’s no question about it. There’s no explanation. There’s an evaluation of how to not make the same mistakes again, which is what you should be doing. We can’t get that back. No way to get it back. What you can do is use it — if there’s any aspect of it that you want to just not even think happened. Any aspect of it, use it to get better.”
The Cowboys settled for a field goal with seven seconds left, which turned out to be just enough time for the Ravens to set up a 56-yard game-winning field goal of their own. The handling of the kickoff, which went for a touchback that took no time off the clock, was another matter lacking a satisfying rationale that might make the loss sit better with anyone.