5 plays that shaped the Dallas Cowboys’ historic comeback win vs. the Atlanta Falcons
Perhaps running back Ezekiel Elliott said it best: “We weren’t supposed to win it, we weren’t supposed to win that game. It is a testament to the type of guys we have in this locker room, and we went out there and got it done.”
Even after the Cowboys rallied from deficits of 20 points in first-quarter, 19 points at the half, 15 points with 7:57 remaining and nine points with 4:57 left, Elliott still couldn’t believe the Cowboys emerged with a most improbable 40-39 win Sunday afternoon.
“It almost felt unreal, you know?,” Elliott said after the game. “With the start that we got off to, came out flat, turned the ball over three times, weren’t really focused on really, uh, honestly, I don’t know. We didn’t get off to a good start at first. Persevered. And, uh, come back from that huge of a deficit, with that bad of a start, kind of unbelievable.”
With 2:32 left to play in the fourth quarter, the Falcons’ win probability was 99.9%, according to ESPN. Before Sunday, another ESPN stat said that teams were 1,875-6 when leading by 15 or more points in the final five minutes of regulation over the past 20 seasons.
The Cowboys’ record is now 2-35 when they trail by 19-plus points at halftime.
The Cowboys rallied due to the heroics of quarterback Dak Prescott, who completed 34 of 47 passes for 450 yards with a passing touchdown and three more on the ground, and the wizardry of Greg Zuerlein, whose squib onside kick after Prescott’s last score run that made the score 39-37 had the Falcons so mesmerized they failed to make a play on the ball before the Cowboys were eligible to touch it. But once the ball traveled those 10 yards, C.J. Goodwin pounced on it and set the stage for Zuerlin’s game-winning 46-yard field goal as time expired.
Prescott’s play and Zeurlein’s kicks have been well chronicled, but here are five other plays that also a big impact on a Cowboys’ comeback for the ages.
Falcons questionable decision to go for two
After scoring their third touchdown of the game to take a 26-7 lead midway through the second quarter, Atlanta coach Dan Quinn opted to go for the two-point conversion.
“I thought just at that space, get it to where it goes up to three scores,” Quinn said. “You’re back to your normal spacing of points to go. More just chart related to get the score going.”
The Falcons failed and the decision came back to haunt Quinn and Falcons. Instead of a field goal tying the game as the clock expired, it proved to be the game-winner because of the one point the Falcons unnecessarily gave away in the second quarter.
Never use the chart in the first half.
Unconscionable drop by Julio Jones
The Cowboys-Falcons game featured the second and fourth highest-paid receivers in the NFL in Atlanta’s Julio Jones and Dallas’ Amari Cooper, who make $22 million and $20 million annually, respectively.
Jones, regarded by many as the best receiver in the NFL and who became the leading receiver in franchise history during Sunday’s game, failed to make a catch that likely would have sealed a Falcons’ victory.
After the Cowboys cut the score to 29-17 early in the third quarter, the Falcons stayed aggressive. Facing 3rd-and-2 in the third quarter, receiver Russell Gage lined up at quarterback in the wildcat formation where he threw it deep to Jones, who had rookie cornerback Trevon Diggs beat.
The pass had touchdown written all over it, and it likely would have extended the Falcons’ lead to 36-17, except that the normally sure-handed Jones dropped a perfect throw, forcing Atlanta to punt.
By contrast, on the Cowboys’ ensuing possession, Cooper helped fuel the comeback with a one-handed 58-yard catch that led to a touchdown. The score cut the Falcons’ lead to 29-24 and gave the Cowboys’ offense the confidence that it couldn’t be stopped, if it simply stopped making mistakes.
“Usually I would just run up under it,” Cooper said. “But I couldn’t quite do that, so I had to resort to something else. I just stuck my hand out there and grabbed it. I knew I could make the catch cause I make the catch all the time in practice. It was really kind of routine.”
Big catch for blocking tight end Blake Bell
Dalton Schultz was the star of the day for the Cowboys at tight end, notching a career-highs with nine catches and 88 yards as well as the first touchdown of his career. But more on that in a minute.
Blake Bell, the former OU star who signed with the Cowboys as a free agent after winning a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs last season, was supposed to be a blocking tight end.
But on 3rd-and-4 from Dallas’ 31-yard line, with the Cowboys trailing by 15, Bell made one of the biggest catches of the game. A scrambling Prescott found Bell along the Cowboys’ sideline for a 24-yard gain to move the chains.
Seven plays later, Prescott connected with the aforementioned Schultz on a 10-yard touchdown pass to make the score 39-30.
It was a huge bounce back and confidence builder for Schultz, who had two drops in the season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
“We knew that this team liked to play a lot of man. Schultz said. “We knew where the open spots were; we just kept attacking that little void. After a couple drops last week, I was making sure I was on the jugs Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday after practice. And so I knew I was ready for that workload. I felt like it was my job to kind of step up when we needed it. So, I am glad I was able to do that and I am really glad we got that dub.”
Cowboys finally get a sack, stop on defense
The Cowboys defense, which was handcuffed with short fields due to three fumbles and two failed fake punts, offered little resistance to the Falcons offense for much of the game.
Quarterback Matt Ryan tossed four touchdown passes and another was lost on a dropped pass.
But the Cowboys comeback wouldn’t have happened if not for some key plays by the defense, starting with forcing the Falcons to settle for field goals after a fumble and both failed fourth-down tries.
But the defense showed up big when it mattered most. After the Cowboys made it 39-30 with 4:57 left, the defense got the ball back with a key stop. Safety Xavier Woods dropped Falcons running back Todd Gurley for a 2-yard loss on first down and then defensive end Everson Griffen got the first sack of the game on Ryan and only the second of the season for the Cowboys.
The Cowboys got off the field on third down, forcing a punt that would complete the rally.
Michael Gallup’s leaping butt catch
Trailing 39-30, the Cowboys got the ball back with 2:57 left. And Prescott started cooking again. No one expected a 47-yard toss to fourth-receiver Noah Brown on a crossing route on 3rd-and-7. It was a perfect throw and a tough catch in traffic that gave the Cowboys a first down at the Atlanta 15.
However, a questionable blindside block thrown by rookie CeeDee Lamb at the end of the play made it 3rd-and-2. On the next play, Lamb caught a 14-yard pass for a first down.
Prescott then tossed a deep 38-yard pass to Michael Gallup along the left sideline. Gallup jumped high to get the ball and landed on his bottom at the 5 as his arm came down out of bounds.
It was ruled a catch on the field, but it drew a challenge from Falcons coach Dan Quinn at the 2:05 mark. The catch was upheld. Four plays later, Prescott scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to cut the Falcons’ lead to just two points and set up the onside kick that eventually led to Dallas’ game-winning field goal.
“It was a great play. MG [Michael Gallup] just continues to show up and make huge plays time after time in one-on-one situations,” Prescott said. “He’s a guy that I count on, he’s a guy that this offense counts on in those situations. He wants his number called. With as much talent as we have, they’ve got to go make those plays. I told them earlier in the game that big players make big plays, and that’s what you all are, so let’s go do it. Each one of them did that, and it was huge for us down the stretch.”
Not to be overlooked was a 24-yard catch and run from Lamb after the onside kick. It might only be his second game as a pro, but picked up the crucial yardage after the catch, kept both hands on the ball to protect it and stayed in bounds to keep the clock running, just like a veteran would.
