ill play devils advocate (kinda):
i think sliding short of the first down was less about avoiding contact and more about not knowing the rule on sliding
Im willing to bet that Kyler thought he had it -- probably easily. but its where the slide starts, not where you hit the ground. Not sure he knows that.
BTW: if you really want to be haunted: go look at a wide angle of the play.
IF Kyler had cut outside on his run:
no worse than a first down and out of bounds with the clock stopped.
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EDIT: In the first instance of this post, I thought he had a chance to score, but there is one more Eagle defender on that side of the field who likely forces him out of bounds shortly after the first down