5 plays that blocked the Cowboys from victory over the Bengals

There were a handful of moments that were bigger than others on Monday night… including the one you are thinking.

The Cowboys failed to notch their first three-game win streak of the season, falling 27-20 to the Bengals. It was a close game from start to finish, and while there aren’t any individual plays from this entire game that stick out in anyone’s mind, here are five plays that were massive in the final outcome of the game.

Cooper Rush’s interception takes away points

The Cowboys offense was on fire right out of the gate, moving down the field with ease and scoring a touchdown. The Bengals matched on their next drive to tie things up 7-7, but a huge play from CeeDee Lamb put Dallas right back in scoring range.

Then, tragedy struck. Rush looked Lamb’s way on a quick slant, but the receiver never got there. He was knocked down by a defender, a clean play since it occurred within the five yard cushion, but that allowed Geno Stone to pick off the pass.

There was really nothing that could be done differently here, as Lamb didn’t have time to evade the defender and Rush got the ball out before it even happened, but the play was huge. The Cowboys needed as many points as they could get, and turning it over in the red zone early on was devastating.

Luke Schoonmaker’s penalty backs offense up

The Cowboys were hot to start the third quarter too, scoring a touchdown on their opening drive and then picking off Joe Burrow right after that. With the game tied at 17 a piece, the Cowboys were moving the ball with some real potential.

After a first-down conversion from Rico Dowdle, Rush got sacked for a loss of one yard. During the scrum, Luke Schoonmaker shoved a Bengals defender, who then put on an award-worthy acting performance and fell to the ground, drawing a flag.

Schoonmaker was hit with an unnecessary roughness penalty, and since the foul occurred after the play, it meant the down counted and the 15 yards was then tacked on. Just like that, the Cowboys were looking at second and 26, and they predictably had to settle for a field goal. That’s a bitter pill to swallow after the drive looked destined for more.

Joe Burrow finds Mike Gesicki on hot route

Still, the field goal from Brandon Aubrey gave the Cowboys a 20-17 lead, and the Bengals needed to respond. The fourth quarter had just begun, and time was ticking away for them to reclaim the lead.

A few big plays got them right on the cusp of field goal range. On first down, Burrow dropped back to pass, but was quickly greeted by Micah Parsons screaming down on him, completely unblocked. The quarterback fired a quick pass to Mike Gesicki over the middle of the field, who had beaten Donovan Wilson off his break.

Gesicki picked up 13 yards and put the Bengals firmly into field goal range. More importantly, the quick thinking from Burrow prevented a certain sack that likely would have pushed them out of range for kicker Cade York, who tied the game up just four plays later.

The whole punt block fiasco

Yes, of course we’re going to talk about this play. The most impactful play of the game, without question, came right out of the two minute warning. A string of penalties for the Bengals and a third down sack set up a fourth and 27.

Cincinnati came out to punt. The Cowboys did something great. And then something the exact opposite of great.

Nick Vigil made a game-changing block of the punt that could have potentially sealed a game-winning field goal try for Aubrey, and Amani Oruwariye literally let it slip through his fingers. It was a mental error of Leon Lett proportions. Not only did it rob them of great starting field position, but it gave the Bengals a fresh set of downs. Three plays later, Burrow hit Ja’Marr Chase for the game-winner.

Cooper Rush doesn’t see wide open CeeDee Lamb

As catastrophic as the blocked punt fiasco was for the Cowboys, it wasn’t the end. The quick score for Chase was actually a good thing, as it gave Rush and the offense the ball back with 61 seconds to score and all three timeouts.

Before long, though, the Cowboys were facing fourth down and needing seven for the first down just on their side of the 50. Rush ended up firing high and incomplete to Jake Ferguson, but Lamb came wide open in the middle of the field right before he threw it.

Had Rush seen Lamb, the first down would’ve been an easy one, and Lamb probably gains plenty more. The offense would’ve been pressed for time to get up and clock the ball, but they at least would’ve had more of a chance than they did when Rush missed Ferguson, effectively ending the game.