We all know that a team should be good enough to not let one bad call change the outcome of the game, but unfortunately that’s exactly what happened to the San Francisco 49ers in their week four match up with the Dallas Cowboys. Late in the second quarter safety Jaquiski Tartt was called for unnecessary roughness on what should have been sack of Dak Prescott, thus forcing a punt. Instead, the 49ers were penalized 15 yards and Dallas got a fresh set of downs on a drive that lead to a touchdown.
Tartt didn’t even realize that he had been called for a penalty until he saw the Dallas offense wasn’t leaving the field. He did admit he made contact with the QB but said he didn’t hear a whistle, and saw Prescott still up and moving and felt it was imperative to get him down on the ground to end the play. If Tartt hadn’t finished the play and Prescott slipped away he would have take heat for not finishing. He did make sure the QB was down and yet still got punished for doing his job.
Tartt did not speak to an official during the game but explained his thoughts after it was over.
He was still standing and once I pushed him he fell. I just thought I was finishing the play off. They threw a flag and the rest is history. I was just running to the ball and saw that the quarterback was still up. I went over to push him to make sure he was on the ground.
Rashard Robinson spoke after the game about how a momentum swing can change a game.
It’s a sudden change. That’s one thing about the game of football, sudden change. We had a good defensive drive going, and a penalty happens so that kills the juice a little bit. Stuff happens but we just have to stand together as a team and just look forward.
It was a vocal crowd at Levi’s Stadium and I heard from personnel and players on the field alike that it was difficult to hear the whistles at all. Regardless, this play was the turning point in a game that the 49ers had been dominating. Yes, a team should be able to comeback from one bad call, but sometimes one bad call is all it takes to change the way the ball bounces for a team.