The playoff game between the Cowboys and the 49ers comes to an end with an inglorious snap. The hosts blame the referees and Dak Prescott commits a nasty verbal foul.

Munich – A playoff game in the NFL could hardly have ended in a crazier and more chaotic way.

In the Wild Card Round, the Dallas Cowboys hosted the San Francisco 49ers. The final moments of the game turned into a bizarre spectacle.

With 14 seconds left on the clock at AT&T Stadium, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott sprinted 17 yards to the 49ers’ 24-yard line. Once there, the playmaker was going to spike the ball to stop the clock for one last play.

Cowboys’ spike fails

However, this did not succeed at all. Because instead of handing the ball to the referee in a flurry, Prescott passed it to centre Tyler Biadasz – quite obviously to save time.

According to NFL rules, however, this is not allowed. Thus, before each snap, a referee must receive the ball to determine the exact position for the next play.

So the official rushing from behind had to fight his way through the hosts’ O-line before he could place the ball and release it for the final snap. By the time the snap was taken, however, time had already expired and the referees declared the game over, sealing not only the Cowboys’ 17-23 defeat but also their early play-off exit.

Cowboys coach McCarthy unhappy

Not surprisingly, the wild ending caused heated discussion afterwards. While the victorious 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan stated he had been “confident” the game was over after the spike with the clock running out, the mood in the Cowboys camp was entirely different.

“The placement of the ball between us and the official was obviously out of order,” head coach Mike McCarthy said. “We should have had no problem placing the ball there.”

He continued, “I thought they were going to let the two teams play today. They’ll have to answer that for themselves. “

Prescott pissed at referee

Quarterback Prescott, speaking to US journalists later, was less than forthcoming. While he said he shouldn’t have run a full 17 yards, and instead should have gone to the ground earlier to allow more time for the all-important final play, he didn’t address his errant handoff of the ball to his own centre.

“When you’ve practiced it as many times as we have over and over again, you don’t necessarily worry about it. You trust your training. What I mean by that is you don’t prepare for things like clashing with a referee. But I guess we’ll have to do that knowing how this went,” the signal caller formulated.

The referee team, on the other hand, saw no need for action after the match. Senior official Alex Kemp, for instance, said referee colleague Ramon George had placed the ball correctly for the snap. “He collided with the players when he tried to put the ball in the right place.”

Although Coach McCarthy intervened, saying a referee on the sideline had told him there would be a replay, Kemp briskly contradicted that. “The play is over as soon as we confirm it with the officials on the field. “

Fans throw rubbish at referee

Meanwhile, quarterback Prescott was still guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct. When told at the press conference that trash was sailing down from the stands as parts of his team left the field, he called the Cowboys fans’ behaviour “sad”.

However, when it was made clear that the supporters were deliberately throwing rubbish in the direction of the referees, the 28-year-old said: “Kudos to them! The fans thought the same as us. I think that’s why the referees left so quickly. Everyone is upset with the way this thing went down.”

Incidentally, one person from the hosts’ camp did not join in the referees’ rant. Franchise owner Jerry Jones, for example, said the game had been lost long before the last play: “So I’m not going to make it into something bigger than it is. “