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Zuerlein’s 10th career winning kick allowed the Cowboys to finish a wild final possession in a striking manner.
Tied 17-17, the offense took over on its own 13-yard line with 3:54 on the clock and two timeouts remaining. Lots of time to get into position for a basket, to say the least.
But 33 seconds off the Chargers’ 41-yard line, the Cowboys only played one more play (a 3-yard run from Tony Pollard, who couldn’t get out of bounds) before calling. their last time out with four seconds to go and kick the basket on the third down.
Head coach Mike McCarthy said the management of the clock was unintentional.
“We had an alternate communication problem there,” McCarthy said. “We were going to play a third game. We had a little problem with the clock. The clocks came out of the panels at the top and the one that (offensive coordinator) Kellen (Moore) was watching was blocked (by a camera operator) and we communicated with the box, we did not have the staff planned for the third call.
“Once you get below 17 seconds, it’s a threshold that you just drop and take the kick out there.”
Looks like the Cowboys wanted to pull Zuerlein a bit closer for the decisive kick. But the 10-year veteran was ready.
“I have known situations in the past where I was like ‘OK, you could have a chance here’,” he said. “Just stay warm (kicks) under the net (on the sideline) and wait.”
Zuerlein has the nickname “Greg the Leg” for a reason. He has now scored 39 career goals from 50 yards or more.
One of his career misses at this distance, a 60-yard attempt against Tampa Bay, was perhaps the most encouraging part of his unusual performance in Week 1. He badly missed a 31-yard try. and scored an additional point of the amount.
Maybe part of it was a lack of rhythm. Back surgery during the offseason kept Zuerlein from training for most of training camp. Earlier this week, the Cowboys signed Lirim Harjullahu to the depth training squad, although he was not bred for Sunday’s game.
Clearly, the club were confident Zuerlein could seal the game despite struggling against Tampa Bay.
“It’s more about trusting the process,” he said. “You don’t throw your swing, like I said last week, just because you missed a few kicks. You’re going to practice and you find out what you did wrong and you try to correct that. I think that’s it. Just be confident and trust the swing. “
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