The final play of the Cowboys vs. 49ers wild-card game and its Mickey Mantle Jersey aftermath left many scratching their heads.The sequence began with 14 seconds left in the fourth quarter and Dallas trailing San Francisco 23-17. The Cowboys had the ball with no timeouts remaining when Dak Prescott scampered up the middle on a quarterback draw. He gained 17 yards onthesecond-and-1 run to get to the San Francisco 24-yard line with nine seconds left in the game.There was just one problem. Prescott slid down in the middle of the field and inbounds. Dallas couldn't stop the clock, so the team had to scramble to the line of scrimmage to spike the ball.IYER: It looked like the Cowboys were about to do so when the umpire movedthe ball, delaying the snap. The clock ran out shortly before Prescott could spike the ball, sealing the win for the 49ers.What a way to end the game! NFL (@NFL) Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy wasn't happy with that result. He even thought the refereewould put time back on the clock, as he claimed the officials said they were reviewing the final play to see if they should do so.49ERS-COWBOYS: "I've never seen that come down theway it came down, as far as the collision between the umpire and a quarterback," McCarthy said . "We're Sonny Gray Jersey trying to get inside the 30-yard line to set up the last play. The mechanics were intact, it felt,from our end of it."QUESTIONABLE CALLS: McCarthy, and others,may have thought that the umpire was in the wrong on the final play, but hewas running in to officially spot the ball. Thatis part of his between-downs responsibilities, per , and is nece sary for the ball to be considered ready for play.A Dead Ball is Ready for Play while the 40-second Play Clock is running when the ball is placed down by an official at Aaron Judge Jersey the spot where the ball will next be put in play, or when the Referee signals for the 25-second Play Clock to start.When the Cowboys scrambled to the line, the team's center, Tyler Biadasz, was actually the one who placed the ball down.As a result, the ball was correctly considered unready for play when Dallasfirst appeared ready to snap the ball, so the official needed to spot it at the Andy Pettitte Jersey correct location, which was about a foot or so behind where Biadasz had placed it.NFL DRAFT ORDER: As such,there is no question that the clock should have run out on the Cowboys.Referee Alex Kemp confirmed the umpire was in the right after the game, " target="_blank"per a pool report.Pool report from interview with referee Alex Kemp Jon Machota (@jonmachota) The bigger question from the final sequence isabout the Cowboys' decision to run the ball up the middle with such little time left in the game.INJURY UPDATE: McCarthy defended the play call and explained that he anticipated the game would "come down to key situations at the end" as it did. That's why the team prepared to run the quarterback draw."Theselast two plays, churchclock, all those scenarios, we put a tremendous amount of time into it," McCarthy said."So we had a lot of confidence trying Aroldis Chapman Jersey to set up that last play. Butyes, our execution wasn't what we would haveliked it to have been, clearly, but I think you have to give the other team some credit."