Sunday’s game between the Rams and Cowboys got off to an unconventional and bizarre start at AT&T Stadium. After the Cowboys won the coin toss, Dak Prescott told the official that Dallas wanted to kick off in the first quarter.
By saying that, he also gave the Rams the option to choose what they wanted to do to begin the second half: kick or receive. The Rams, of course, chose to receive the second-half kickoff, but they didn’t end up getting the ball as they expected to.
Because Prescott said “defer” after also saying the Cowboys wanted to play defense, the NFL reviewed the situation and corrected it. Dallas got the ball to start the second half as Prescott intended, preventing the Rams from getting an extra possession.
The score wound up being 44-21, so the mix-up probably wouldn’t have changed the outcome, but Sean McVay was asked about it after the game and shared his thoughts on what happened.
“The way that I interpreted it from the start was, they won the toss and they chose to kick in the first half, so I immediately asked the refs, tried to get the clarification,” McVay said. “We were under the impression that we were going to be able to receive the second half kick as well. I guess they went to New York. They had a microphone and they said they heard the word “deferred.” I found out right before the start of the second half, so we were always under the assumption we were going to get that kick, be able to receive that kick coming out of the half and I was told right before that that wasn’t the case.”
That sort of change can definitely impact a coach’s game plan. There’s a big difference between having to kick off to start the second half and getting the ball first, especially when trailing by 21 points as the Rams were.
Jared Goff was also confused by the situation and was under the impression that the Rams would begin the second half with the ball, which turned out not to be the case. Goff, Eric Weddle and Johnny Hekker were all holding back smiles and laughs when the coin toss played out, indicating they knew Prescott messed up.
They knew what he meant, but the rulebook interpreted it differently.
“I think by rule that’s what it is – we would get the ball in the second half, but I do think he may have then corrected himself and then said defer,” Goff said after the game. “I don’t quite remember exactly, but we knew what he meant, but by the letter of the law, I think that if he does say kick, that is a rule. I don’t know the intricacies of that rule well enough, but they said that he did correct himself and say ‘defer’ after that.
“We had talked to the referees the whole game in the first half, and we were told we would get it in the second half. I don’t think that would have changed much with the outcome of the game, but it was something a little weird, definitely.”
The Rams were dominated in every phase of the game and could do nothing right until it was too late and the Cowboys put it out of reach, so a coin-toss gaffe was hardly their biggest issue. Receiving the kick in both halves would’ve been helpful, but certainly not enough to change the outcome of the game.