SI.com · Dec 8, 2020
Alex Smith Explains Move That Bought Washington Extra Time for First-Half Field Goal
Was he trying to pull a fast one?
A cheeky move by veteran quarterback Alex Smith at the end of the first half was very nearly the difference in Washington’s surprise upset of the Steelers. But Smith claims it wasn’t anything nefarious.
Trailing 14–0 in the closing seconds of the first half, Smith took a sack at the Pittsburgh 31-yard line with 19 seconds on the clock. It was fourth down and Washington had no timeouts, so there was no way to stop the clock to get the field goal unit on to try to get on the board.
The clock did stop, though, because there was no ball on the field. Where was it? In Smith’s hands as he ran off the field.