IRVING, Texas -- Upon further review, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett still sees nothing wrong with how he managed the end of regulation in Sunday's 19-13 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Garrett insisted Monday there was no need to call a timeout after getting a first down at the Arizona 31-yard line with about 25 seconds left, even though Dallas could have run a few plays in hopes of setting up a shorter field-goal attempt.
Garrett maintained he "thought it was the right thing to do" in letting the clock wind down and settle for a 49-yard field goal by a rookie kicker who'd already missed from 53 yards, and who'd made a 50-yarder only because of a fortuitous ricochet off an upright.
And Garrett considered it "not really appropriate" to think he might have added to the pressure on his kicker by then calling a timeout just before the rookie was trying that 49-yarder.
OK, then: How about the decision for Tony Romo to spike the ball after getting the first down that started the wild finish; was that Romo's choice or Garrett's?
"I don't have a great answer for you on that," Garrett said.
On NFL Network
"NFL Replay" will re-air the
Cardinals' 19-13 OT win over the
Cowboys on Wednesday, Dec. 7
at 8 p.m. ET.
Asked next about what special teams coach Joe DeCamillis was saying right before Garrett called the timeout, Garrett again said, "I don't have a great answer for you on that."
Garrett's usual day-after news conference was unlike any of his previous 19 such gatherings, except for Garrett remaining calm and sticking to his speaking points. His default answer was, "We chose to play it this way and, unfortunately, it didn't work out for us this time. Hopefully in the future it will."
There were no apologies, no second-guessing.
"We don't use the word 'second guess,'" Garrett said. "You say, 'Could we have done this, could we have done that, should we have done this?' It is very similar to calling a play. When a play works, it was a good call, it was a good play. When it doesn't work, a lot of people say that call wasn't very good."
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
