Dak Prescott made a huge mistake during the coin toss prior to the Dallas Cowboys’ game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, and it resulted in his team not being able to get the ball at the start of either half.
The Cowboys won the toss, and Prescott meant to say that they wanted to defer to the second half. However, he said that Dallas wanted to kick, which means he did not actually defer the decision to the second half.
Wow. Dak Prescott didn’t say “defer” so Rams will get ball to start game AND to start 2nd half. First time in NFL history. pic.twitter.com/R1lXB8x3MH
— Rudy Gersten (@DCBarno) December 15, 2019
Prescott obviously meant that the Cowboys wanted to receive in the second half rather than the first, but he misspoke. By choosing to kick rather than deferring, he gave the Rams the ball in the first half and the right to receive in the second half.
While the coin toss seems like it should be the most simple part of a football game, this isn’t the first time we have seen confusion with it. However, things typically get more muddled when overtime is involved, which we saw in a big game between two division rivals earlier this year.
Fortunately for Prescott, the Cowboys forced the Rams to punt on their opening drive of the game.
