After the debacle of the coin-flip between the Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys in Week 15, “the issue is now expected to be a point of discussion with the NFL's competition committee this offseason,” according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.
In the eventual Cowboys win, Rams quarterback Jared Goff called tails before a coin-flip that went heads. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott told referee Walt Anderson “defense,” before pointing to Los Angeles and saying “kicking it that way.”
Anderson responded with “OK, you're going to kick,” indicating that the Rams would receive the first- and second half kickoff. When, in reality, that wasn't the case. Prescott said, “We defer to the second half.”
Prescott's use of the word “kicking” before “defer” created confusion. However, ultimately the NFL league office stepped in, giving Dallas the ball to start the second half.
Changing the process is interesting, considering how simple it is. According to Schefter, the focus is streamlining the things a player must say. However, it's currently not too complex. They can say “receive,” “kick,” or “defer.”
It seems as if Anderson simply made a mistake. The process seems to be simple enough. He only heard “kick” when he should have also heard “defer.” A rule as old as time was not played out like that last Sunday.
Nonetheless, the Cowboys ultimately won the game, in a dominant fashion to say the least. They pounced on the Rams, winning 44-21. Even if they did have to kick it off to start the second half, that victory was theirs.
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