For the first time since October 6th, the headlines will read “Cowboys win.” In one of the craziest games you will ever see, Dallas pulled off a 34-26 upset over the Washington Commanders. With this wild win, the Cowboys have snapped a 5-game losing streak.
That was seriously the weirdest NFL game I have seen. From the start to the finish, that was truly insane. We saw a slew of bizarre plays, turnovers, blocked kicks, a seemingly game-icing kickoff return touchdown, before a miracle touchdown and a missed extra point.
At times, it felt like both teams were competing to lose this one, but you can’t knock Dallas‘ effort today.
They played incredibly hard, especially on the defensive side. Mike Zimmer’s guys stood out today, and they needed to. There were no excuses this time around.
This game was a circus. I have no idea what we just witnessed, but let’s dive into it.
How Did That Happen?
If you’re trying to piece together exactly how that Cowboys win happened, you have to start with the incredibly sloppy play by Washington.
The Commanders’ offense, until the final three minutes, was brutal today; they turned it over, missed opportunities, and overall looked like a lackluster unit. For a team that has been nothing but fireworks on that side of the ball, this was a dud for 98% of the game.
Washington turned it over twice, including a Jayden Daniels’ bizarre interception by Defensive End, Chauncey Golston.
In addition to the offensive performance, what ultimately killed them was one of the worst, most sloppy, special teams performances I’ve ever seen.
Kicker Austin Seibert, who was returning from injury, missed two extra points and a 51-yard field goal early in the first quarter.
One of those extra points, of course, came after an absolute miracle touchdown from Daniels to Terry McLaurin. On one play, in 12 seconds, the Commanders’ offense scored an 86-yard touchdown.
The Dallas defense’s mistakes on this play will be overlooked by the mayhem of the moment, but boy, did they screw that up.
It wasn’t just in the field goal-kicking game, however. The Commanders made the bizarre decision to kick off to KaVontae Turpin late in the game, when they could instead have just kicked it out of the back end zone.
This resulted in Turpin pulling off one of the best returns I’ve ever seen, and for just a moment, it seemed like that was going to be the game-winner.
It’s important that we not just shine a light on Washington’s flubs, though; this victory was also the result of some impressive play from Dallas. Despite their mistakes at the end, the Cowboys defense stood tall, and the offense, occasionally, came up with some nice plays.
This is a major morale boost for Dallas, as this game was not even expected to be close, but what does it mean in the big picture?
The Bottom Line
Heading into this game, it looked entirely possible for the Cowboys to lose out this season, and finish the year 3-14. Now, they have secured a win on the road as a huge underdog, and will now face the lowly Giants at home on Thanksgiving.
Some will argue, including myself, that Dallas was better off losing this game as they are still far from the playoff picture.
Cooper Rush, despite an improvement in performance today, is still clearly not built for a playoff push. At 4-7, this season is still likely all but over for Dallas.
That said, could this win propel them, especially on the defensive side, to continue making good teams sweat? Most definitely. If they start playing with the chip on their shoulder that we saw today, they could become much more competitive.
So, Cowboys fans, if you were rooting for a win today, enjoy it, it was crazy. If you were hoping for a continuation of the top-5 draft pick prophecy, don’t sweat it too much.
The overall outlook for Dallas is still bleak, but man, this was a sight to see in Washington D.C. in Week 12.