Zeke's (almost) huge mistake that could have lost the game

[erod]

Zeke Elliott had a huge day. Zeke Elliott almost made a huge mistake.

The grins are tattooed to our faces, and we're fist-bumping through a rosy Monday morning, but it could have been very, very different. I can see and hear the screams today had Zeke's boo-boo not been band-aided in time.

If the game was managed properly, the biggest play of the game should have been Dak's last completion to Jason Witten.

That first down should have sealed the win. Pittsburgh had one time out, and Dallas had a 1st-and-10 deep in Steelers territory with 1:55 left. Once Zeke got that first down, he should have gone down. Time out Pittsburgh. Take another knee. Whittle it down to 1 minute. Take another knee. Whittle it down to less than 20 seconds. Dan Bailey. 26-24. Ball game with only about 12 seconds left.

Instead, we saw Elliott go off right tackle untouched for a touchdown. The first thing I though was, "uh oh, too much time left." I'm not sure if Pittsburgh let him score or not, but it sure looked easy. It was definitely their only chance at that time. That left more than 1:40 to go with Big Ben against our exhausted, short-handed defense. No Scandrick, Mo, or Church. McFadden on Brown. Great googly-moogly.

Fortunately, Pittsburgh scored too quickly as well, and Dallas had time to come back. The Steelers had no choice, needing a touchdown, but it turned out good that Dallas was easy pickings.

That left time for Zeke to punctuate the day. Fortunately, it was an exclamation point, and not a big fat question mark.

 

[BaybeeJay]

Steelers had 2 timeouts left, not 1.

 

[joseephuss]

It wasn't a mistake or an almost mistake. When you are trailing you score when the opportunity is in front of you. Nothing is ever guaranteed, so you take advantage of your chances when you can. It is a different situation of you are protecting a lead, but when you are behind you take that touchdown. Bad snaps, bad holds, blocked kicks, missed field goal and in general stuff happens. Elliot did what he needed to do and it was the right thing to do.

 

[Yoshimitsu]

If the defense gets off the field and gives the offense the ball back we arent having this convo

 

[LandryFan]

It wasn't a mistake or an almost mistake. When you are trailing you score when the opportunity is in front of you. Nothing is ever guaranteed, so you take advantage of your chances when you can. It is a different situation of you are protecting a lead, but when you are behind you take that touchdown. Bad snaps, bad holds, blocked kicks, missed field goal and in general stuff happens. Elliot did what he needed to do and it was the right thing to do.

 

[BoysfanfromCanada]

I thought that too initially, but you have to take the guaranteed points. Anything could have gone wrong with the fg attempt, like a block or a miss.

Only way it was a mistake is if we were already up by a point or two, but it wasnt the case

 

[TonyS]

Zeke Elliott had a huge day. Zeke Elliott almost made a huge mistake.

The grins are tattooed to our faces, and we're fist-bumping through a rosy Monday morning, but it could have been very, very different. I can see and hear the screams today had Zeke's boo-boo not been band-aided in time.

If the game was managed properly, the biggest play of the game should have been Dak's last completion to Jason Witten.

That first down should have sealed the win. Pittsburgh had one time out, and Dallas had a 1st-and-10 deep in Steelers territory with 1:55 left. Take a knee. Time out Pittsburgh. Take another knee. Whittle it down to 1 minute. Take another knee. Whittle it down to less than 20 seconds. Dan Bailey. 26-24. Ball game with only about 12 seconds left.

Instead, we saw Elliott go off right tackle untouched for a touchdown. The first thing I though was, "uh oh, too much time left." I'm not sure if Pittsburgh let him score or not, but it sure looked easy. It was definitely their only chance at that time. That left more than 1:40 to go with Big Ben against our exhausted, short-handed defense. No Scandrick, Mo, or Church. McFadden on Brown. Great googly-moogly.

Fortunately, Pittsburgh scored too quickly as well, and Dallas had time to come back. The Steelers had no choice, needing a touchdown, but it turned out good that Dallas was easy pickings.

That left time for Zeke to punctuate the day. Fortunately, it was an exclamation point, and not a big fat question mark.

Your point is taken and we did dodge a bullet by doing the same thing to them with less than 20 seconds left. Tough to coach for that there, but Zeke being a rookie didn't understand the strategy at that point and could've still given Pburg time to score or we fail the kick. It wasn't a gimme. Hopefully, they take this chance to review those situations for potential future application. Go Cowboys!

 

[slomoxn]

It wasn't a mistake or an almost mistake. When you are trailing you score when the opportunity is in front of you. Nothing is ever guaranteed, so you take advantage of your chances when you can. It is a different situation of you are protecting a lead, but when you are behind you take that touchdown. Bad snaps, bad holds, blocked kicks, missed field goal and in general stuff happens. Elliot did what he needed to do and it was the right thing to do.

Agree 100%, ask New Orleans about fluke plays that snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory. If the game is 45 seconds left and you already have the lead I get it but not coming from behind and taking a chance something doesn't go wrong.

 

[Doomsday]

No way anytime you have a chance that late to go up by 4 or more you take it.

The person who almost lost the game was Marinelli, putting a Practice Squad player on an island with Antonio Brown on the last drive. That was just dumb.

 

[SDCowboy]

It wasn't a mistake or an almost mistake. When you are trailing you score when the opportunity is in front of you. Nothing is ever guaranteed, so you take advantage of your chances when you can. It is a different situation of you are protecting a lead, but when you are behind you take that touchdown. Bad snaps, bad holds, blocked kicks, missed field goal and in general stuff happens. Elliot did what he needed to do and it was the right thing to do.

/thread

 

[viman96]

Disagree. You have the chance to take the lead late in the game you do it. There is no guarantee the points come later.

Now if offense was protecting a lead then absolutely he should have gone down and not scored.

 

[erod]

I thought that too initially, but you have to take the guaranteed points. Anything could have gone wrong with the fg attempt, like a block or a miss.

Only way it was a mistake is if we were already up by a point or two, but it wasnt the case

What's more unlikely? Bailey missing a chip shot, or Roethlisberger taking his team the length of the field with four downs all the way in 2 minutes?

We were fortunate the Cowboys defense was absolutely putrid that drive.

 

[LocimusPrime]

Tough to argue. I guess the most perfect thing to do is to run to about 1" from the end zone and kneel down. But w the game on the line, emotions kick in and you wanna score

 

[NextGenBoys]

Pit had two timeouts. Which means they get the ball back with 1:20 only needing a FG to win.

If you want to criticize, at least get the core of the facts right

 

[Doomsay]

It wasn't a mistake or an almost mistake. When you are trailing you score when the opportunity is in front of you. Nothing is ever guaranteed, so you take advantage of your chances when you can. It is a different situation of you are protecting a lead, but when you are behind you take that touchdown. Bad snaps, bad holds, blocked kicks, missed field goal and in general stuff happens. Elliot did what he needed to do and it was the right thing to do.

Right - keep it on the ground with the human visegrip running it.

 

[erod]

Steelers had 2 timeouts left, not 1.

You're right. I stated it wrong and fixed the OP.

I meant that Zeke should have gone down after the first down, forcing the time out. Then, the rest. Bailey would have had a 2015 extra point to win the game.

 

[The Quest for Six]

Steelers had 2 timeouts left, not 1.

all Zeke had to do was go down at the one yard line, Pit would have to use a time out, then after the first down play, they'd used their last time out and Dallas could just kneel down twice running 80 seconds off the clock and kicked a field goal leaving 20 second left with no timeouts....

 

[Doomsday101]

Pit had two timeouts. Which means they get the ball back with 1:20 only needing a FG to win.

If you want to criticize, at least get the core of the facts right

True, Dallas needed that TD to take a lead big enough to overcome any FG by Pitt. Defense played hard but where not exactly shutting down the Steelers so that 5 point lead mattered.

 

[erod]

Pit had two timeouts. Which means they get the ball back with 1:20 only needing a FG to win.

If you want to criticize, at least get the core of the facts right

I miswrote it. I meant that Zeke should have gone down after the sticks, THEN the rest would have been in order as I stated it.

A chip shot inside the 5-yard line for Bailey. That was the right play.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

I think New England got a bit cutesy last night trying to run clock before scoring. And it bit them in the butt. You try to score and then count on your defense.