You’d think a team would show a little aggression down four with 30 seconds left in a football game right? Right?!?!
Well… that wasn’t quite the case for the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night.
Trailing 28-24 with half a minute remaining, Tavon Austin (who’s earned a reputation as one of the better punt returners in the league) lined up around his own 45-yard-line to field a kick. The ball eventually landed in his hands and he appeared to have some room to run, but the 28-year-old opted to call a fair-catch instead of trying to earn some extra yards. Okay, so this wasn’t just extra yards… he appeared to have a LOT of room to run.
That left sideline looked pretty darn open… just saying.
This was not a sign of fear on Austin’s part, rather a decision by the coaching staff. The receiver was apparently told to fair catch the ball regardless of the kick in order to save time on the clock. The Cowboys’ coaching staff, which has already been under some heat from fans throughout the season, was torn apart on Twitter.
Quarterback Dak Prescott eventually threw an interception on 4th & 1 from Minnesota’s 45 to close out the game. With the loss, the Cowboys dropped to 5-4 and left a lot of fans really, really pissed off.
Oh, what could have been.
(H/T FTW)
