Cowboys break their losing streak with a wild finish over Commanders

 Can you believe the Cowboys won on Sunday?

The Dallas Cowboys were in the midst of their worst losing streak since 2015, but that came to an end on Sunday in the most unlikely of ways with a 34-26 victory over the Washington Commanders. Entering this week of NFL action, the Commanders – led by former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn – were 10.5 point favorites. Only the Chiefs, facing off against the Panthers, had a larger point spread this week.

So, naturally, the final minutes of an utterly insane fourth quarter between the Cowboys and Commanders was unfolding at the same time that Carolina tied Kansas City with just over a minute left. It was that kind of day for NFL football, and while the Chiefs went on to win, the Commanders could not secure the same fate.

When this one kicked off, it very quickly proved it had all the makings of a slopfest. The Cowboys started out with the ball and promptly flew down the field, with Cooper Rush completing his first four passes before Jalen Tolbert flat out dropped a pass on third down. Brandon Aubrey trotted out for a 35-yard field goal, but Washington flew in and blocked it.

The Dallas defense, which welcomed DaRon Bland back this week for the first time all year, held the slumping Commanders offense to a field goal. The Cowboys then flew down the field again, with Rico Dowdle leading the charge, but he was stuffed on third and short. Aubrey came out for a 42-yard field goal, but he hooked it just to the right.

The Commanders once again moved the ball down the field quickly, but the drive fizzled out. Austin Seibert, who returned this week after a two-game absence due to an injury, walked out to attempt a 51-yard field goal. He shanked it, naturally, keeping the Commanders lead at 3-0.

Immediately afterwards, Rush handed it off to Dowdle, who lumbered forward for six yards but had the ball ripped from his hands as he was being gang tackled, and Washington recovered the ball. That kicked off a series of four straight punts, the fourth of which was blocked by the Commanders. Not to worry, though, as Chauncey Golston managed to pick off Jayden Daniels three plays later.

The two teams traded punts again before Rush hit a deep shot of 41 yards down the sideline to Jalen Brooks, which set up a field goal try right before halftime. This time, Aubrey drilled the kick from 46 yards out, making it a 3-3 game at halftime.

While Aubrey finally connected on a field goal right before the break, he started the third quarter off with another mistake. Kicking off to Washington, he shanked the kick and it fell well short of the designated landing zone. That gave the Commanders a first down at their own 40, and they used that to their advantage, scoring a touchdown after 10 plays. However, Seibert missed the extra point, leaving their lead at just 9-3.

Not to be outdone, though, Rush came back on the field and lit a fire under his own offense. He ripped off chunk plays of 16 and 18 yards to Jalen Tolbert and Brevyn Spann-Ford, respectively, before a pass interference penalty on third down set up first and goal. A few plays later, Rush hit Tolbert for a touchdown. Aubrey drilled the extra point to give his team their first lead of the day, 10-9.

The two teams traded punts again until the start of the fourth quarter, when Aubrey hit a 48-yard field goal to make it a 13-9 game. Apparently, that was all that was needed to open the floodgates, as these two teams combined for 41 points in the fourth quarter.

Following the field goal, Daniels hit tight end John Bates on a quick pass on first down, but Donovan Wilson punched the ball out to be recovered by Eric Kendricks. Five plays later, Rush found a wide open Luke Schoonmaker for a touchdown.

The Commanders, now trailing 20-9 with just over five minutes left in the game, shifted into hyperdrive. Daniels dropped back on every one of their next nine plays, hitting two deep shots to former Cowboy Noah Brown before finding Zach Ertz for a four-yard touchdown. Quinn then opted to go for two to make it a field goal game, and Daniels ran in for a successful attempt.

Then things got really weird. As Seibert kicked off to KaVontae Turpin, the ball bounced between his legs and back towards the endzone. Turpin, who had touched the ball and muffed his attempt to scoop it up, casually picked the ball up with one hand as several Commanders came screaming down at him. A perfectly timed spin move created a lane, and Turpin flicked on the jets.

Flash forward 99 more yards and Turpin is dancing in the endzone. The Cowboys extended their lead 27-17 with just under three minutes left, but the scoring wasn’t over. A big scramble from Daniels helped the Commanders reach field goal range, and Quinn decided to kick it on second down in order to have time for another shot at a score. Seibert hit the 51-yard try and cut the Cowboys’ lead to 27-20.

Dallas recovered the Commanders’ onside kick attempt, and they managed to burn only 67 seconds on the ensuing drive, as Washington had two timeouts to use. By the time Bryan Anger came on to punt, there were 40 seconds left in the game. He downed the ball at the Washington 14-yard line.

As Daniels and the offense came back onto the field, the announcers reminded everyone of the rookie’s Hail Mary touchdown to beat the Bears in a similar situation just a few weeks ago. As if by fate, Daniels then immediately found Terry McLaurin in a soft spot in the Cowboys’ zone coverage, and the receiver then evaded every defender for a miraculous 86-yard touchdown.

With 21 seconds left on the clock, all Washington needed was a successful extra point to tie the game, though some coaches may have opted to go for two and try to win in regulation instead of rolling the dice with overtime. Quinn sent Seibert out for the extra point, and in shocking fashion he hooked it left and missed it. That forced the Commanders to attempt another onside kick, and if you thought things were weird at that point, they got even weirder:

The onside kick return for a touchdown was the perfect way to cap off a truly fascinating day of special teams play from both teams, and it extended the Cowboys’ lead to 34-26. But with 14 seconds still left on the clock, Washington was not entirely out of the game.

After a 38-yard kick return, the Commanders had nine seconds to go 64 yards and then get a two-point play just to reach overtime. A quick pass to Ertz shaved off six yards and five seconds, leading to another Hail Mary from Daniels. After the quarterback ran around in the pocket to buy time, he launched a prayer that was ultimately intercepted by Israel Mukuamu to officially seal the deal.

And so ended the most bizarre game that the NFL has seen in quite some time. The Cowboys snap their losing streak while simultaneously extending their rival’s losing streak, which now stands at three. And, of course, it meant a win for Mike McCarthy in his first faceoff with Quinn since the coach left Dallas this past offseason.

It probably won’t mean much in the grand scheme of things, as the Cowboys “improve” to 4-7 and face an extremely narrow path to reaching the postseason, but a win like this over a division rival feels extra good after the losing streak. And the wild way it unfolded made it much more entertaining for the audience as well.