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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is leaving little doubt that he believes errors in game management by his coaching staff in the final seconds of a 34-31 loss to the Baltimore Ravens cost his team the victory.
Speaking on his radio show Tuesday, Jones was asked what explanations there were for leaving enough seconds on the clock after a tying field goal for a defensive breakdown to put the Ravens in position for the winning kick.
“There is no explanation you’re satisfied with. None,” Jones said. “Let’s be sure that we all understand that. They [coaches] don’t have one that they’re satisfied with. We made mistakes during that time. There’s no question about it. So there is no explanation. But there’s an evaluation of how not to make the same mistakes again.”
Trailing 31-28, the Cowboys had a first down at the Baltimore 2-yard line with 23 seconds left when Dak Prescott threw incomplete into the end zone.
After a false-start penalty against tight end Luke Schoonmaker, Prescott scrambled to the Baltimore 5, and coach Brian Schottenheimer called his final timeout with 14 seconds remaining.
The coach, who is also the playcaller, instructed Prescott to either throw a quick out to wide receiver George Pickens or throw the ball away, based on the amount of time left, with no ability to stop the clock. Prescott didn’t wait long to choose the throwaway, and the play lasted just four seconds.
There were seven seconds remaining after Brandon Aubrey’s field goal, and the Dallas defense left a gap at just about the exact spot of the target line for a Baltimore field goal. Lamar Jackson completed a 27-yard pass to Zay Flowers, got the timeout called with a second to go, and Tyler Loop made the 56-yard field goal.
Schottenheimer is in his second season as a head coach after 25 years as an NFL assistant. Christian Parker is a 34-year-old making his debut as a defensive coordinator. Both will be under considerable scrutiny from fans and pundits going forward, and perhaps from their own front office.
“We will be better from this experience that we had with Baltimore and what happened to us at the end of the game,” Jones said. “A win would have given you another way of couching it as far as having growth and enthusiasm for having won a game like that, because we did come back, and we came back in an impressive way. All of that makes us realize we really are just at the beginning of what I hope is an exciting year for us.”
The Cowboys (1-2) got a break in the NFC East when two-time defending champion Philadelphia lost to the Chicago Bears and backup quarterback Case Keenum on Monday night.
Dallas visits the Houston Texans (0-3) Sunday. The New York Giants, who will be without quarterback Jaxson Dart for the rest of the regular season because of a knee injury, are tied with the Eagles atop the division at 2-1.
“We are very much in the hunt, and I say that principally based upon the way I feel about our team, as much or more than what’s happening with the other teams,” Jones said. “Philadelphia has things that they want to work on just as the Giants do, just as we do. It makes you see how health is a factor. Availability is a factor. And we’re just getting started.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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