Garrett: Cowboys should have been ready for Stafford's 'fake spike'
IRVING, Texas – Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said his team should have been prepared for trick played by Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford on the game-winning touchdown.
After a completion to the one yard line, Stafford ran up to the line of scrimmage and signaled frantically that he was going to spike the ball to stop the clock.
Instead, Stafford took the snap and leaped to put the ball over the goal line with 12 seconds left.
"There's a level of readiness that you have to have," Garrett said Monday. "In some ways you think you're ready for that situation, but you have to be down, you have to be ready, and we weren't. We have to do a better job in that kind of a situation."
The Cowboys' defensive line managed to get down in their stances prior to the snap. However, once the ball was snapped the linemen stood up as if they expected Stafford to "clock" the ball.
"Certainly, I think there was an anticipation, in some way, shape or form, that they were going to spike the ball," Garrett said. "It's not for us to decide that they're going to do that. We have to decide to play football, get in stances, defend them if they want to run the ball."
Former Dolphins great Dan Marino famously pulled off a similar "fake spike" play to win a game in 1994.
Garrett may not expect his team to be students of NFL history, but said he does expect them to be prepared for a quarterback sneak in that scenario.
"We have to handle that situation better," Garrett said. "That goes to coaching, that goes to playing. Everyone has to understand the possibility in that situation."
Follow Keith Whitmire on Twitter: @Keith_Whitmire
