Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy defends calls for two failed fourth downs

Two failed fourth conversion tries on their own end of the field by the Dallas Cowboys led directly to two quick touchdowns for the Washington football team in Thursday’s 41-16 loss to the Washington football team.

A pitch to CeeDee Lamb in the fourth and 1 on their own 34-yard line resulted in a five-game goal for Washington that gave them a 17-10 lead in the second quarter. Then, as they trailed 20-16 early in the fourth quarter, a false punt from their own 23-yard line was ruled out by Washington, with Antonio Gibson scoring a play later on a 23-yard touchdown as the game was spiraling out of control for Dallas. .

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said after the game that he was happy with the play calls made in these situations, the team just didn’t convert the first downs.

The false punt involved Cedrick Wilson taking a reverse pitch from the back and looking to pitch it to punter Hunter Niswander or run for himself. However, Washington cornerback Danny Johnson did not take off after the shooter and was positioned to cover Niswander’s release and stop play.

“Well, I mean it’s definitely a great playing opportunity,” McCarthy said, via quotes distributed by the team. “There are certain things that you are looking for in terms of trending, when and where. But of course, we didn’t perform it. This is how these things go. Obviously that is ultimately my responsibility, especially when a part like this doesn’t work. But we’re trying to generate a great game. At this point in the game, the information you’re looking to get into it, it was a solid call.

McCarthy knew it was a risky situation to call such a play, but he thought the call was right given their study of Washington trends. It just didn’t work.

“Well, you’re not going anywhere if you think about negatives all the time. Obviously it was a solid play call. It’s a good game design. Their gunner made a good game. He came out and put us in a high / low read for Cedric (Wilson). It’s a game that if we hit it, we sit (alright). This is the nature of these parts. So you can never hit them if you don’t call them out and believe in them. I clearly understood the situation when he was called.

The pass to Lamb was a bit easier and less critical as it was earlier in the game. Lamb had a pure one-on-one clash with cornerback Ronald Darby. Darby drove on the pitch and got to Lamb a bit early. However, no flag was thrown and Washington took over. Alex Smith would hit Logan Thomas for a 5-yard touchdown five plays later.

“It was a clean game,” McCarthy said. “Honestly, we had a one-on-one on the perimeter. Obviously, the result was not what we were looking for. I think everyone saw what happened on the play. These are coins that you are looking to create opportunities and it was a good decision to play. We had one against one outside. We just haven’t converted.

The appeals failed in their efforts to help the Cowboys win a game and make the playoffs. They were successful in helping the Cowboys have a more favorable position in the NFL Draft next spring.