Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy

INGLEWOOD, Calif .– In a perfect world, Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy wouldn’t have been content with a winning 56-yard field goal attempt by Greg Zuerlein in the dying seconds against the Los Angeles Chargers.

But several problems arose.

First, a player came off the field after Tony Pollard’s 3-yard run at the 38th Los Angeles with 33 seconds left.

“One of our players came out when he shouldn’t have been,” said McCarthy. “Just a communication error.”

Then the clock McCarthy was looking at on the digital board overlooking the SoFi Stadium pitch went off.

“I’ve never had a stopwatch like this,” McCarthy said.

Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore was also not in a better position.

“It was blocked by a cameraman,” McCarthy said of Moore’s ability to see one of the clocks at field level.

Instead of using the timeout early and potentially leaving the Cowboys in a bad spot if they made a third game, McCarthy opted to let the time go with the help of his assistant coaches from the coaches cabin. and called a time out with four seconds to play.

“Once we didn’t have the staff in place for the third call, we were in between once you fell below 17 seconds,” McCarthy said. “It’s a threshold, so we let it go down and take the kick.”

Zuerlein made it work by tapping into the game’s longest-winning basket with a record time in franchise history, giving the Cowboys a 20-17 win 10 days after missing a field goal try and a PAT attempt. which cost them in the 31-29 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Game 1.

Dak Prescott was not aware of any coach clock issues until after Zuerlein’s kick

“I wasn’t sure. I’m looking at the clock in the end zone. I saw the time,” he said. “I just thought we were comfortable and we were good on the range and that’s what they wanted to do.”

The comeback victory was the 11th Prescott has won in his career when the Cowboys tied or lagged in the fourth quarter. While the performance wasn’t particularly aesthetic, such as when he had to throw for 182 yards in the fourth quarter in a 40-39 win over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2 last year, Prescott was effective and deliberate.

Taking over with 3:49 remaining after the Chargers tied the game, Prescott completed his five passes for 35 yards, including a key 12-yard throw to Amari Cooper on a slope.

“I think you see the best of Dak Prescott in these situations,” McCarthy said. “We spent a lot of time on it. I really like the way it behaves and its pose in the two-minute exercises. It’s nice to have one on a Sunday. I think it’s clearly a product of Dak and the offensive players and coaches, just the time that goes into two-minute drills. That means a lot when you’re able to do it in a live game situation. “

For the game, Prescott completed 23 of 27 assists for 237 assists. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass for the first time in the last seven games he has started and completed. He also got an assist, marking the fifth game in a row he’s had at least one interception, the longest streak of his career.

But he came away with his first win since suffering an open fracture and dislocation of his right ankle last year. He underwent two surgeries, countless hours of rehabilitation, and questions about his health at training camp after suffering a latissimus strain on his right shoulder.

What has missed him the most during his absence are times like Sunday.

“That’s what you do it for, for the ball in your hands, for a chance to go and win it,” Prescott said. “That’s what I was talking about on the offensive, telling them that we had placed the game in the position we wanted. It’s up to us to go and capitalize and finish this game, and we were able to get into the range and let the special teams go over there and do their job. “