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The Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Commanders, 34-26, on Sunday. That sentence, by itself, does not even begin to tell the story of one of the weirdest, most unpredictable and downright goofy NFL games you will ever see.
Here’s what you need to know.
The Dallas Cowboys had a field goal blocked, missed another one and had a punt blocked. And yet, improbably, backup quarterback Cooper Rush had them up 20-9 with just over five minutes remaining.
And that’s when it got zany. After the Commanders drove down the field and scored both a touchdown and two-point conversion, KaVontae Turpin did this:
Game over, right?
LOL. LMAO even. Not even close.
The Commanders drove down the field again, this time settling for a field goal with 1:40 remaining. The defense then got a stop and got the ball back with only 21 seconds remaining, setting the stage for Jayden Daniels and Terry McLaurin to do this:
Game tied, right?
LOL. LMAO, even. Austin Seibert, who had already missed a field goal and extra point, did this:
And then this happened on the ensuing onside kick:
It was a whirlwind of a fourth quarter, nearly overshadowing how shocking it was in the first place that the Cowboys (4-7) ended a five-game losing streak by upsetting the Commanders (7-5). And the NFL world barely knew what it had just seen:
Outside of the fourth-quarter absurdities and special teams’ gaffes, Dallas ultimately won this game by winning the turnover battle (2-to-1) and getting a surprisingly competent performance from Rush (24-of-32 for 247 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and one sack taken).
Washington, meanwhile, will have to acknowledge yet another disappointing offensive showing through most of the game, with offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury stuck in another second-half-of-the-season slump.
In the process, the Commanders are now stuck in a losing streak of their own, having lost three in a row. If the Philadelphia Eagles (8-2) beat the Los Angeles Rams later on Sunday, they’ll hold a convincing lead over the Commanders in the division.
The Cowboys, meanwhile, can brush aside any talk of tanking for now.
You just never know what twists and turns an NFL Sunday will provide
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