Cowboys react to chaotic finish in road win over Commanders: ‘It’s never over’
At halftime of the week 12 matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Commanders, you could hear the same joke being cracked throughout the press box.
After a first half that included two turnovers, two missed kicks, one blocked kick and another blocked punt, the fans and media at Northwest Stadium were treated to a halftime football game between a local Peewee team and pro team mascots from across the country.
“This is the best football we’ve seen all day.”
That joke was made in sincerity, but it was quickly forgotten after a second half — particularly a final five minutes — that will be talked about for years to come.
With the Cowboys leading 13-9 with just over five minutes remaining, quarterback Cooper Rush found a fellow backup turned starter in tight end Luke Schoonmaker for a 22-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 20-9 and apparently put it away.
But it was just beginning.
“It’s never over,” Rush said. “It’s cliché but it’s never over. We knew they had time left. We’re talking on the sidelines we’re going to have to win this again on offense. Four-minute mode and didn’t really expect to play out like that.”
Washington answered with its best offensive drive of the day. Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels went 7-for-7 over nine plays to score on a nine-play drive in just over two minutes. An ensuing successful two-point conversion cut the Dallas lead to 20-17.
“It’s not just learning [in these moments] and being in these end of game winning time moments,” Washington head coach Dan Quinn said. “It’s about winning them.”
With 3:04 remaining and two timeouts, Quinn decided to kick it deep. Kicker Austin Seibert sent a knuckleball that chaotically speared off the hands of returner KaVontae Turpin.
“Oh, he did that for timing,” head coach Mike McCarthy said with a laugh postgame. “That was part of the plan.”
Turpin regathered the ball, pondered his next move and cut right before spinning left and out of the way of the entire Commanders special teams unit. In front of him was only a wide open hole to the end zone. Ninety-nine yards later, he finally secured his first career kickoff return touchdown after years of coming up short.
“I was thinking about going down and just letting our offense bleed the clock,” Turpin said. “But I’m like, ‘Let me hit this spin move. Something nobody has ever seen before, and hopefully I can get through the chute.’ Once I get through, nobody’s touching me.”
“He’s been hitting [the spin move] in practice a couple times,” wide receiver CeeDee Lamb said. “That’s his escape move, if you will.”
Turpin escaped, indeed. After he went untouched into the end zone, it appeared as though Dallas had finally put the nail in the coffin, but Washington still had a pulse with 2:49 remaining, trailing 27-17.
“You stay even keeled throughout it all because it’s a long season,” Daniels said. “A lot of things can happen in a game in the NFL. So, I just try to stay even keeled and control the things you can control.”
Daniels answered by putting together 43 total yards on just five plays to get Seibert into field goal range. Despite having an offense that had quickly found a big spark, Quinn decided to pocket his two timeouts for a potential Dallas possession and take the three points on second down from the Dallas 33-yard line.
“We didn’t feel like we had to overtry or go further for it,” Quinn said. ”It had nothing to do with anything other than, ‘Hey, we’re at the spot, let’s go get some points and move it from there.’”
Seibert converted from 51 yards out to make it a 27-20 game with 1:44 remaining.
An unsuccessful onside kick saw some fans head to the exits and media members head to the press elevators. One first down from the Cowboys would end it.
After three plays that accounted for minus one yard, Dallas had to punt it back to Washington with a slim chance to tie.
“We got down to the end there and it was just a game situational extravaganza,” McCarthy said. “I mean, it’s like Yahtzee. Everything was in there.”
“That’s part of the game,” cornerback DaRon Bland said. “We practice those moments. We never get too high, too low. We knew we had to go out there, make a play and finish the game.”
Unfortunately for the Cowboys, it was Daniels who made the play.
With 33 seconds remaining, Daniels hurled a ball to wide receiver Terry McLaurin down the right sideline that hit him in stride. McLaurin split the soft coverage from Dallas and beelined for the end zone from 86 yards out.
Northwest Stadium erupted.
“When I got the ball, I just tried to score,” McLaurin said.
“Anything can happen, whenever,” Daniels added.
As celebrations ensued and both sidelines prepared for an assumed incoming overtime period, Seibert took the field for an extra point that should have been a formality.
Instead, a low snap and a mishit on the ball saw Seibert’s attempt go wide left. It never had a chance.
“I just wasn’t striking it well,” Seibert said after missing his third kick of the day. “[The snap] didn’t make a difference at all. It was on me.”
“I was just like what the…” Lamb said. “I knew we had time on the clock…Shoutout to Austin [Seibert], he went to [Oklahoma] with me. He gave us one.”
One final onside opportunity awaited Washington. Seibert booted it right up the middle into the waiting arms of safety Juanyeh Thomas who, instead of going down like McCarthy said he’s been coached, took it the distance for another score.
“All I seen was end zone,” Thomas said. “I ain’t going to lie…I would’ve [gone down] if they crowded a little bit more, but I just got it and said, ‘Six points.’”
The second kickoff return touchdown of the game — a first in Cowboys franchise history — officially, indubitably and irreversibly put the game away for good, 34-26.
“Next time I’m going to go down,” Thomas said.
A final Hail Mary attempt from Daniels fell into the arms of Cowboys cornerback Israel Mukuamu to end it on the game’s final play and conclude one of the wildest finishes of the NFL season.
“It was crazy, man,” cornerback Jourdan Lewis said. “Going back-and-forth like that. Special teams won the game for us, honestly. That was really amazing.”
“Everybody is waiting on their moment and their opportunity,” wide receiver CeeDee Lamb said.
After a grueling six-week stretch that saw Dallas lose five straight and tank down the conference standings, Sunday’s chaotic finish was somehow the opportunity Lamb and his teammates had been waiting on.
“It finally worked out for us,” Lewis said. “The ball rolled our way.”
