Cowboys fair catch eliminates best chance to beat Vikings
Tavon Austin is a burner.
The speedy Dallas Cowboys receiver who clocked a 4.34 40-yard dash at the 2013 scouting combine had an opportunity for a game-breaking play against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
Except he didn’t.
Puzzling fair catch
With the Cowboys trailing the Vikings, 28-24 with 24 seconds left, Minnesota punted from deep in its own territory, providing Dallas a last-gasp effort at a go-ahead score.
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Austin fielded the punt near midfield without a Vikings defender within 15 yards of him while facing an open lane toward the end zone down the left sideline. And he did nothing with the opportunity.
What’s the point in being able to run a 4.3 40 yard dash if you’re going to fair catch this?! #CowboysNation pic.twitter.com/cbWyHWWW2K
— Justin Echevarria (@jeche5) November 11, 2019
Instead of attempting a return, Austin called for a fair catch, presumably because he was instructed to do so no matter what in order to save precious seconds on the game clock.
Otherwise, there’s no rational reason for a punt returner to call a fair catch when facing this punt-return defense.
Cowboys end up with 1 shot at end zone
After declining the return, the Cowboys inexplicably called for a short pass from quarterback Dak Prescott that resulted in a three-yard out to Blake Jarwin before allowing their quarterback to throw a Hail Mary into the end zone that was intercepted by Jayron Kearse to secure the 28-24 Vikings victory.
Sure, a punt return for a touchdown is a long shot. But so is a Hail Mary. And the Cowboys made poor use of any perceived time saved with the fair catch.
Options to win a game in that situation are extremely slim. Completely ruling out one of the best chances to pull off a miracle before the play even happens amounts to poor decision-making.
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