Cowboys safety Damontae Kazee made the league’s naughty list for a horse-collar tackle of Giants running Devontae Booker in the week before Christmas. It cost Dallas 15 yards at the time of the infraction; now it’s costing Kazee a tidy chunk of change, too.
Kazee’s pull-down came on the Giants’ opening possession of the third quarter during the Week 15 game. Facing a fourth-and-1 on their own 35, New York went for the conversion, and Booker took the pitch wide for 31 yards. All by itself, it would end up being the Giants’ longest play from scrimmage.
With Kazee’s personal foul tacked on, Big Blue got a new set of downs at the Dallas 20. They would gain no more yardage- and, in fact, lost 10 on a penalty of their own- en route to a Graham Gano field goal that cut the Cowboys lead to 15-6.
Cowboys S Damontae Kazee was fined $6,246 for unnecessary roughness on his touchdown-saving tackle last Sunday of Giants RB Devontae Booker, source said. Kazee drew 15-yard flag for horse-collar tackle. Drive ended with field goal in Cowboys’ 21-6 win. pic.twitter.com/4e2l63lJAB
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) December 26, 2021
When asked about the play the day after the 21-6 Cowboys win, defensive coordinator Dan Quinn admitted that his unit simply guessed wrong.
“Well, I wish we stopped them. I will say that,” Quinn told reporters Monday. “But it was a good play. We were playing for the quarterback sneak with inches [to go]. So we really overloaded the inside. And so for them to kick the ball outside, and they made a good block onto J.K. [Jayron Kearse], they pulled the guard out around onto [Trevon] Diggs, and so that’s where the explosive play hit. Sometimes you can be too bold inside, and they got a good check to go outside. Quite honestly, I tip my hat to them- to [Giants offensive coordinator Freddie] Kitchens and their staff- for coming up with a good design. Later on- not in the same series, but another one- they had the sneak called again, and we checked into a different look on it. That worked out better; it was a fourth down stop… Sometimes [there’s] a little bit of a cat-and-mouse game between the coaches: when you will and when you won’t. But I do have to give them credit. That was a good play.”
The play Kazee made, while an illegal tackle technique, likely saved a touchdown… and a Giants score that might have dramatically changed the complexion of the game. As it turned out, it ultimately cost the Cowboys just three points.
And, of course, another six thousand bucks for the five-year veteran.
Kazee was fined nearly the same amount for an unnecessary roughness call the last time the Cowboys played the Giants. Back in Week 5, he was flagged for a retaliatory shove after Giants wide receiver Kadarius Toney threw a punch at Kazee during the 44-20 Dallas win.
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