Should have Dak Prescott slid short of the goal line on TD run?

Owner Jerry Jones knew the Dallas Cowboys left too much time on the clock for Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers on Sunday afternoon. So did just about everybody else on hand at AT&T Stadium or watching on TV.

Could the Cowboys have milked even more time off the clock on an already lengthy 17-play, 8:43 drive that ended on an 11-yard touchdown run by Dak Prescott?

The Prescott score gave the Cowboys a 31-28 lead, but left 1:13 on the clock for Rodgers to orchestrate his magic.

And Rodgers did just that, needing only 1:02 to march the Packers down the field 75 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

“Of course, we are all going to second guess what happened at the end of the game and keeping the ball away from them a little bit more,” Jones said. “But that’s the way it goes. … You give Rodgers a minute, and you’re more than likely going to get a score in a critical moment.”

The most controversial play may have been a second-and-2 from the Green Bay 11 with 1:24 left. The Cowboys opted to pass it in that situation instead of run it, and Prescott threw an incomplete pass intended for Dez Bryant.

A run would could have milked another 30-40 seconds off the clock.

Prescott also could have gone down just short of the goal-line on his TD run, although that is truly rolling the dice. Scoring a touchdown is never a surefire bet in that situation.

A penalty, for instance, could ruin the Cowboys chances in that scenario.

“All we wanted to do was keep the ball away from [Rodgers], but we needed to score a touchdown,” Jones said. “We’ll be second guessing those last two calls for a long time.”

Asked about alternative play calls at the end, Jones said: “Well, it’s a hard call. You absolutely have to have the ultimate respect for Rodgers in terms of his team. With a minute and a timeout in this particular case, it was more than likely a good chance for them to get three. Hopefully, you can keep them out of the end zone. The way to do that is to run the ball down to the end, but you take a chance of not getting the touchdown.”

Jones knew right away that the Cowboys had left too much time on the clock for Rodgers.

After all, Rodgers is the same quarterback who led a game-winning field goal drive in the postseason a year ago with just 35 seconds on the clock.

But Prescott and the Cowboys expressed confidence that the defense would make a stop after the game. That trust, however, was misplaced.

“I’m going to trust my defense,” Prescott said. “This is a team game. There are 11 guys on each side of the ball every time.

“I’m going to trust those guys on defense to make a play.”

Except they couldn’t once again against Rodgers.

The Packers got into field goal range almost immediately with Rodgers connecting with Davante Adams and Martellus Bennett for 14-yard gains on back-to-back throws, and then running back Aaron Jones picking up 15 yards on a run.

On a third-and-8 later in the drive, Rodgers took the mindset from field goal to touchdown when he scrambled for an 18-yard gain. Defensive lineman David Irving had the best chance to stop that play from happening.

“He’s good, man,” Irving said. “I saw him out the corner of my eye making a spin, tried to get him, but I was inches behind him, missed the tackle. [Stuff] happens, especially playing against him.”

Two plays later, the Packers had taken the lead when Rodgers found Adams in the end zone behind Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis.

So the questions remain. Should have Prescott slid at the 1-yard line? Should have the Cowboys run the ball on the play prior to that?

“I just think you have to be careful about trying to be perfect,” coach Jason Garrett said. “It’s hard to score points in this league. It’s hard to score touchdowns. It’s a four-point game at that time. There’s no guarantee you’re going to score a touchdown there, so I think in that particular case, [Prescott] did the right thing.”

This story was originally published October 9, 2017 at 11:20 AM with the headline "Should have Dak Prescott slid short of the goal line on TD run?."