LANDOVER, Md. — A team with its season spiraling out of control, riding a five-game losing streak, looked to finally have gotten back on track with 5:16 remaining Sunday afternoon at Northwest Stadium.
But that’s just when the rollercoaster started leaving the gate. Here’s how the final minutes of the Dallas Cowboys’ 34-26 victory Sunday against the Washington Commanders played out.
5:16 left in fourth quarter: A Cowboys team that trailed 9-3 early in the third quarter, was finally getting something out of an offense led by backup quarterback Cooper Rush. Facing third-and-5, Rush found tight end Luke Schoonmaker wide open down the middle of the field for a 22-yard touchdown. It looked to be a complete coverage bust by Washington’s defense. Brandon Aubrey’s extra-point put Dallas up 20-9. At the time, things looked like they were pretty much over.
Rush, who rarely shows much emotion, was pumping his fist in celebration. The Fox TV cameras cut to a sideline shot of Rush hugging Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, who was wearing the biggest smile he’s probably shown in over a month.
“It’s a cliche, but it’s never over,” Rush said with a laugh when asked about his feelings in that moment after the game. “You knew they had time left. We were talking on the sidelines, ‘We’re going to have to go win this again on offense, in four-minute mode.’ I didn’t really expect it to play out that way.”
Cooper Rush and Luke Schoonmaker celebrate their fourth-quarter touchdown Sunday against the Commanders. (Peter Casey / Imagn Images)
3:02: Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels found tight end Zach Ertz over the middle for a 4-yard touchdown with Cowboys safety Juanyeh Thomas defending. The play capped a nine-play, 69-yard drive. The Cowboys then called timeout before the Commanders attempted a two-point conversion. It didn’t matter, Daniels used his legs to get to the right edge and outrun all of Dallas’ defenders. Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons was visibly frustrated by the defense allowing such an easy score for the standout rookie quarterback. Cowboys 20, Commanders 17.
“We did a great job, I just wish we finished better at the end,” Parsons said. “That’s what I mean when I say we’re a good team. We’re slowly putting games together. This time we did all three quarters. I would just like us to finish better in the fourth quarter. But we’re definitely on our way to being the team we want to be.”
2:49: On the ensuing kickoff, Washington attempted to keep the ball on the ground, making it more difficult for Cowboys returner KaVontae Turpin to get a clean return. It didn’t matter. Arguably the game’s best returner scooped the ball up after it slipped through his hands at the 1-yard line, did a spin move and quickly found open grass near the 15. Nine seconds later, he was in the end zone. If the game wasn’t over before, it seemed like it certainly was now. Cowboys 27, Commanders 17.
“(I was trying to) hit a dirty ball,” Commanders kicker Austin Seibert said. “Make him field it.”
Turpin is one of the NFL’s fastest players. Next Gen Stats clocked him at 22.36 miles per hour on a 64-yard touchdown catch last week. It’s the fastest an NFL player has run this season. He said he didn’t think he reached that same speed Sunday.
“I was like, let me hit this spin move,” Turpin said, “something nobody has ever seen before. I got through the chute. Once I get through the chute and nobody touches me, it’s a house call.”
1:40: Washington only needed six plays to get to the Dallas 33-yard line with 1:40 remaining. Former Cowboys defensive coordinator and current Washington head coach Dan Quinn then sent out Seibert to attempt a 51-yard field goal to pull the Commanders within a touchdown. Seibert’s kick was good. Cowboys 27, Commanders 20.
0:40: Dallas wide receiver Jalen Tolbert recovered the Commanders’ onside kick attempt following the Seibert field goal. The Cowboys’ offense then went into run-as-much-clock-as-possible mode, forcing Washington to use its final two timeouts. Bryan Anger punted the ball to the Commanders with 40 seconds remaining and no timeouts. Washington took over at its own 14. Cowboys 27, Commanders 20.
0:21: Daniels and the Commanders do it again. A month after defeating the Chicago Bears at Northwest Stadium on a 52-yard Daniels touchdown pass to WR Noah Brown as time expired, Daniels delivered again. This time, the Cowboys only sent three rushers and dropped everyone else into coverage. The goal was to tackle the receiver in bounds if a catch was made. Washington No. 1 wide receiver Terry McLaurin made the catch. However, no one tackled him.
McLaurin made the grab around Washington’s 40. He then cut inside and then back out, avoiding Cowboys defensive backs Jourdan Lewis, Josh Butler, Donovan Wilson and Israel Mukuamu. By the time McLaurin was at Dallas’ 35, there was no defender in front of him. The drive: one play, 86 yards.
“They dropped 11 guys in coverage,” Fox analyst Greg Olsen said on the broadcast. “If they just tackle him in bounds the game is over. I don’t even know what to say. I’m absolutely speechless.”
“I saw the play and I knew the coverage, and they hit it so we just got to tackle him,” McCarthy said. “It was situational football and obviously we have to get down there and the call may change, but the coverage and the type of play that they ran, those are the types of plays you run in those situations.”
Cowboys 27, Commanders 26.
0:21: Next up came the decision to kick the extra point or go for two and the win. Quinn was running down the sideline holding up one finger, signaling that they would go for one.
Seibert, who missed an extra point earlier in the game, ran onto the field and set up. But there was an issue from the start. The snap was low. Seibert, who had not missed an extra point before Sunday, missed again. Wide right. He immediately put both hands on his head.
NO GOOD.
📺: #DALvsWAS on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/FDg7wGy8KF— NFL (@NFL) November 24, 2024
“I just want to play better for my teammates,” he said. “Definitely don’t want to do that. I just wasn’t striking well.”
What about the low snap? “It didn’t make a difference at all,” he responded. “It’s on me.”
Quinn said he never considered going for two.
“I thought, ‘Let’s get back into it, but we don’t have to decide it on this play,’ ” he said of his thought process of trying to win in overtime. “And so that was where I thought, ‘Let’s go, one stop, and then at the coin toss, let’s go through the whole process again and reset it.”
Somehow the Cowboys just needed to recover the ensuing onside kick and the game would be over.
0:14: Seibert kicked the ball right at Cowboys safety Juanyeh Thomas. After a couple bounces, Thomas picked it up and ran right by every Commanders player. If he goes to the ground, Dallas can kneel out the clock. Instead, he returned it for a 43-yard touchdown.
“I should’ve hit it a little bit more left,” Seibert said. “I hit it right to the guy. That’s what you get when that happens. That falls on me too.”
“Pretty insane,” Rush said. “I’m happy for Juanyeh scoring a TD, but at the same time, I’m like, ‘Get down.’ It was crazy.”
ONSIDE KICK RETURN FOR A TD WHY NOT?!
📺: #DALvsWAS on FOX
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/DIXs64vWvP— NFL (@NFL) November 24, 2024
What was Thomas thinking?
“Man, all I seen was end zone,” he said. “I ain’t gonna lie. I was like, ‘Man, I’m fitting to go score.’ I would’ve (went down) if they crowded a little bit more, but I just got it and said, ‘Man, six points.’ Next time, I’m gonna go down.”
Cowboys 34, Commanders 26.
0:04: Daniels had one more shot at the end zone with the Commanders at their own 42. Dallas dropped seven back near the goal line. Daniels put everything he had on it, releasing from the 35. The ball made it to Dallas’ 6 where it was tapped into the air and intercepted by Mukuamu at the 5. Game over. Cowboys 34, Commanders 26.
“We’re definitely prepared for it in these situations,” McCarthy said. “These players are unbelievable and are special people with gifts and skills that can make plays like that when the game is on the line. And it was a hell of a game to watch.”
Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb was asked if he’s ever seen something that crazy.
“Yeah,” he said, “I played in the Big 12. I’m kind of used to those types of things. … Shout out, Austin (Seibert), he went to OU with me. He gave us one.”
The win improved Dallas to 4-7, but more importantly, ended its five-game losing streak. It’s still highly unlikely that the Cowboys will reach the playoffs, but Sunday shows that everyone involved on the field and sideline is still trying to win as many games as possible. That will likely bother those who are interested in Dallas potentially having a top-five draft pick in April.
“I’m not done yet,” Parsons said. “I don’t plan on tanking. If the higher-ups are looking for a draft pick, I hope that’s ruined, because we got a lot of football left to play. As long as I’m a part of this team, we’re always going to fight.”
(Top photo: Geoff Burke / Imagn Images)
