Having Leon Lett comparisons to make after this Cowboys and Bengals game was not on anybody’s bingo card.
A close 4th quarter
The Bengals got lucky on what looked like a key turnover. Andrei Iosivas looked like he was stripped of the ball, but a replay review showed he never secured the catch as he was juggling it, so it was ruled incomplete. Burrow was sacked after that — officials missed a clear facemask penalty on Dallas — and punted on the next play.
The Bengals got a stop and that gave Burrow a chance to win the game. He was banged up on the previous drive, possibly on the sack, and ESPN showed him getting a brace on his knee before the drive that started with 5:31 left. The drive started well, but two offensive penalties put the Bengals into a second-and-26. After a short completion and a sack, Cincinnati punted at the two-minute warning. That’s when the punt was blocked, leading to the comedy of errors of the Bengals getting the ball right back.
Chase is having a monster season, and shortly after the gaffe by Dallas he took a short pass, slipped by one tackle attempt and took it in for the go-ahead touchdown.
Micah Parsons stormed off the field after the heartbreaking loss. That image is a good representation of the Cowboys’ entire season.
D’oh! Cowboys lose to Bengals on special teams blunder – Richard Paolinelli, Inside The Star
The Cowboys can’t get out of their own way this season.
Stat Line
Rush finished the game 16-of-31 for 183 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Dowdle added 131 yards on 18 carries with Lamb getting six catches for 93 yards and a touchdown.
By The Numbers
The Bengals snapped a five-game losing streak, both overall and when playing at Dallas, with the victory. Cincinnati’s last win anywhere over Dallas was back in 2004 in Ohio.
The Cowboys are now 10-5 overall against the Bengals and 7-2 when playing at home.
Cincinnati’s only win in Dallas prior to Monday had been a 38-24 win at Texas Stadium in 1988.
Dallas is now 34-29 all-time in Week 14 games. The Cowboys had won five straight in this week of the schedule.
Bengals-Cowboys on ‘Monday Night Football’: What We Learned from Cincinnati’s 27-20 win – Nick Shook, NFL.com
The Cowboys and Bengals proved it doesn’t take teams with winning records to put on a compelling game.
The Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys went down to the wire on Monday night.
In the end, it was Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and the Bengals who kept their slim playoff hopes alive, edging Cooper Rush, Rico Dowdle and the Cowboys, 27-20.
Chase hauled in the game-winning touchdown — his second of the game — thanks to a blocked punt by the Cowboys that ended up being touched by Dallas beyond the line of scrimmage and returned possession to the Bengals.
Cincinnati snapped its three-game losing skid, while Dallas had its two-game winning streak concluded.
The Dallas Cowboys punt block turned disaster… explained – RJ Ochoa, Blogging The Boys
As a rule of thumb, when obscure special teams rules have to be explained in detail following a game, your team probably did something terribly wrong.
After seeing the ball bounce around for a bit it was Amani Oruwariye who decided to try and field the ball for Dallas. He did not do so cleanly, but because he touched it the ball became live again and eligible for Cincinnati to recover. They did, took over once more, scored and ultimately won the game.
This is a tricky rule that doesn’t show up a lot due to the infrequency of blocked punts in the NFL. But after a block the ball must be left alone by the team who was responsible for the block or else they risk this happening.
Cowboys fans will of course remember a similar thing happening on a field goal attempt where Leon Lett did the exact same thing. The stakes were a bit different then, but the mistake is just as flabbergasting.
Unbelievable.
Don’t forget these plays: Missing back-to-back fumbles – Nick Eatman, DallasCowboys.com
The Cowboys had the lead at three different times in this game before losing in the final minutes.
Two fumbles, no recoveries – On back-to-back plays, both involving Donovan Wilson, the Cowboys nearly had a turnover and never got the ball. Wilson recovered what was ruled initially as a fumble by Iosivas and returned the ball to the Bengals’ 28-yard line. But the replay officials came back and said the pass was incomplete. On the next play from the Cincinnati 46, Wilson and Marist Liufau combined on a sack and forced a Burrow fumble, but the Bengals still recovered. And although they had to punt, the Cowboys got the ball back and couldn’t put a drive together. The chances of two turnovers that came up empty seemed to be the opportunity needed for a win, and the Cowboys came up short.
Vigil’s block by another inch? – It’s always a game of inches. Nick Vigil, who is on the roster for his ability to play special teams, cut through for a punt block that could’ve won the game. But had Vigil been there maybe a half-second sooner, he gets a little more hand on the ball and knocks it backward for either a touchdown or safety. Instead, we all saw what happened with the ball going forward and Amani Oruwariye opting to recover it. His muffed attempt led to the Bengals recovering it, which put their offense back on the field for the eventual game-winning touchdown.
Troy Aikman expects Mike McCarthy to return as Cowboys coach in 2025 – Charean Williams, Pro Football Talk
This would be quite the development in an offseason that’s quickly approaching for the Cowboys after this loss.
Thus, McCarthy’s return for next season appears more likely than it did a week, two weeks or six months ago.
Hall of Famer Troy Aikman, who is broadcasting tonight’s game for ESPN, said on 105.3 The Fan that he expects McCarthy back in Dallas next season.
“Short of Bill Belichick, I don’t know who you’re going to bring in that has a better resume,” Aikman said, via Jon Machota of TheAthletic.com. “I just feel that for a team that I really do not think is that far away. . . . I like the way this team is playing right now, even without their franchise quarterback.
“I sense that it’s a team that really believes in Mike McCarthy. I feel the locker room wants him back. I think he’s a really good football coach. I believe Jerry Jones thinks he’s a really good football coach, too. . . . As we stand and talk right now, I expect Mike McCarthy to be back in 2025.”
Source : BloggingTheBoys