We have to go back to the Cowboys' last brutal playoff defeat, in 2019 against the Rams.
In that game, the Rams were driving just before halftime to try and secure a long field goal attempt for a kicker some of you may have heard of, named Greg Zuerlein.
With no timeouts left, Jared Goff completes a pass across the middle to Robert Woods, who is tackled and immediately spots the ball himself. The center grabs the ball and the offense gets in position to snap it. At no point does anyone hand the ball to the referee. In fact, if you blink, you may have missed the referee completely. He zooms into the screen momentarily, lightly taps the top of the football, then scurries out of the way so the Rams can snap the ball and clock it.
Watch:
Contrary to what Tony Romo would like you to believe, the referee does not need to be physically handed the football, they simply need to touch it. Biadasz had the ball in hand, on the turf, with four seconds left on the clock. A competent referee simply needed to run to the line (but not into the quarterback), touch the football, and then get out of the way, allowing it to be snapped and clocked with about one second to spare.
A few things:
1. This is not the reason the Cowboys lost.
2. Asking Dak to run, slide, and clock the ball was still a dumb, and far too risky, play call.
3. This is not a conspiracy against the Cowboys; it's incompetent officiating.
4. Regardless of points 1, 2 & 3,
the fact of the matter is the Cowboys absolutely should have gotten the opportunity to run one more play from the 24-yard-line.