CeeDee Lamb admits he was 'surprised' by Dak Prescott's QB keeper play call vs. 49ers

The Dallas Cowboys have been haunted all offseason long by the painful memory of one of the most controversial playcalls of the 2022 NFL Playoffs, the quarterback keeper in the final seconds of the game by Dak Prescott vs. the San Francisco 49ers. Earlier in the week, their star receiver, CeeDee Lamb, discussed the playcall with Mike Silver on his podcast, the Open Mike Podcast. The former Oklahoma star didn’t blame anyone for it, but admitted he was surprised by the call.

“I’m not going to blame the ref and I’m not going to blame the playcall because the playcall got us to where we needed with time to spike the ball. And the ref, you know, did what he did. But I mean, the game ended how it ended. But…I feel like….I dunno…I feel like time management could have been a little bit better,” the Cowboys star receiver said.

“But, I feel like in that situation that when everything’s just moving fast, the urgency of the referee to touch the ball. Like, you know you have to touch the ball. We know you have to touch the ball. I mean, we only have time to do this one time. We can’t really go back. But I feel like that’s just an unfortunate situation. You know what I’m saying? You just get caught up in the middle,” Lamb said.

The Cowboys’ star receiver then admitted he was surprised by the call.

“I was actually kinda surprised by that. And then, not to mention, I wanna say the drive before that. I think D-Law [DeMarcus Lawrence] had a strip-fumble that they didn’t call. I think they called the runner down. There’s a lot of things that could have went our way on the back end of the game,” the former Oklahoma star said.

In the end, Lamb didn’t make any excuses and said the Cowboys have nobody but themselves to blame for the painful end to their 2021-2022 season.

“But I mean, it shouldn’t have came to it. You know what I’m saying? You can beat the drum any way you want. The game ended how it ended and I feel like we could have played better,” Lamb said.

CeeDee Lamb will be expected to step up and in a big way

Heading into the 2022-2023 season, CeeDee Lamb will be counted on as the go-to-guy in the Dallas passing attack. Following the departures of Amari Cooper (Cleveland Browns) and Cedrick Wilson (Miami Dolphins) via free agency, the franchise will hope that Lamb can step up and in a big way this year.

For an in-depth explanation of the tough ending of the season for the Cowboys, check out the recap below from On3’s Austin Brezina.

The Dallas Cowboys ended their season in disappointing fashion as they lost to the San Francisco 49ers in controversial fashion involving a referee. As the Cowboys rushed to the line of scrimmage to spike the football and stop the clock for one last play, they were unable to snap the ball as an official attempted to reset the ball’s position for the final snap of the game.

Dallas Cowboys lose while referee sets football

The Cowboys season came to an end in an incredibly disappointing fashion after a controversial moment involving the officiating crew. After a scramble for extra yards with time expiring in the game, the Cowboys attempted to spike the ball for one last pass attempt into the end zone.

The official must touch the ball before it is snapped by the offense, by rule. As Prescott and his line did not give the referee the football, the official fought his way through the linemen and reset the ball’s position himself. As he pushed through the line and forced Prescott and the line to move their feet, the ball was unable to be snapped as the referee was not clear of the play.

The Cowboys lost the game 23-17, as their record-setting offense failed to find any traction against the 49ers when it mattered the most.

On3’s Austin Brezina also contributed to this article.