Last year, it was Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning who had to face the music after mismanaging the clock late in the Giants' opener in Dallas. This time around, Cowboys wide receiver Terrance Williams did the honors.
Down one with just over a minute to go and no timeouts, the Cowboys moved the ball 26 yards in 53 seconds to their own 46-yard line. With 12 seconds left in the game, rookie quarterback Dak Prescott dropped back and threw to Williams, who was running an out route short of the first down. Instead of running out of bounds at around the Giants' 46 to stop the clock, Williams inexplicably cut back inside, only to get tackled inbounds at the 41-yard line. The Jerryworld clock ticked down to zero before the Cowboys could get lined up to spike the ball, handing the Giantsa 20-19 win.
If Williams had run out of bounds, Dallas would have been tasked with a fourth down from New York's 46, or roughly a 63-yard field goal attempt. But with nine seconds to go, Dallas surely could have gotten off at least one more play if it desired. Instead, the Cowboys waste a intradivisonal home game that they could have -- should have -- won.
To no one's surprise, Williams got zero grief from his coach after the loss.
"Really what he need to do there was simply run out of bounds, and it's a well-practiced situation," coach Jason Garrett said after the game. "We've been in that situation a lot. His instinct took him inside. With no timeouts and twelve seconds to go, he needs to catch the ball and get out of bounds. We'd reassess the situation whether we'd kick it from there and try to get a little closer."
