If you love special teams cowboys vs commanders, then this was the week for you, because this might just go down as one of the craziest special teams weeks in NFL history. Here’s a quick look at the chaos that ensued on Sunday:
The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Washington Commanders, 34-26, on Sunday in their Week 12 NFC East battle. And that’s probably the easiest way to describe what occurred in the game
The score was 3-3 at halftime and Dallas took a 10-9 lead with 4:40 left in the third quarter when Cooper Rush found Jalen Tolbert for a 6-yard touchdown. It seemed like it was going to be a defensive battle with no real scoring going on for either team.
Then, the fourth quarter happened.
The Cowboys took a 20-9 lead over the Commanders after Rush found tight end Luke Schoonmaker for a 22-yard touchdown. It seemed like it was enough for the Cowboys to close out the game as there was only 5:16 left.
What’s funny is that I saw on Twitter the first comment that was sent to me was how lucky the Cowboys were that Washington missed that extra point.
Well, I’ll say this in return … the Cowboys have been called a lot of things in the last few weeks, and “lucky” certainly hasn’t been one of them.
So Commanders kicker Austin Seibert missed a crucial kick to tie the game. Well, he missed another one in the third quarter that likely played a factor in the second one. You know, these kickers have a lot of thinking to do. Once things creep into their minds, it can be hard to block it out.
So let’s flip it around and give some praise to Brandon Aubrey. His first two kicks on the day were no good – getting one blocked and the second one hitting the upright.
How did he respond? Well, he drilled a 46-yard field goal before the half that gave the Cowboys some momentum heading into the break, tied 3-3. He then hit a 48-yard field goal in the fourth and all of his extra points, which we know are critical.
The Commanders drove down the field in six plays to set up Seibert for a 51-yard field goal. Dallas went three-and-out on its next possession. But inexplicably made a bad mistake on defense.
Daniels found wide receiver Terry McLaurin and the veteran found space around Cowboys defenders and took the ball into the end zone. One play, 86 yards. Washington could have tied the game but Seibert missed the point-after attempt. The Commanders were down 27-26.
QUICK REVIEW OF THE GAME WHAT HAPPENED?
- Titans 32-27 over Texans. This game looked like it might go to overtime, but that didn’t happen after Ka’imi Fairbairn missed a game-tying 28-yard field goal attempt with 1:53 left. NFL kickers have only missed four field goal attempts this season from 28 yards or shorter, and Fairbairn has two of them.
- Chiefs 30-27 over Panthers. The Chiefs had some serious trouble with Carolina and they didn’t seal the win until Spencer Shrader hit a 31-yard field goal on the final play.
- Vikings 30-27 over Bears. Chicago recovered an onside kick with 22 seconds left and then Cairo Santos hit a 48-yard field goal as time expired to send the game to overtime. Minnesota’s John Parker Romo then hit a 29-yard field goal to win the game in OT.
- Cowboys 34-26 over Commanders. KaVontae Turpin scored on a 99-yard kickoff return TD with 2:49 left, which was one of two touchdown returns the Cowboys had in the final three minutes of the game. Juanyeh Thomas scored on a kickoff return off an onside kick with just 14 seconds left. Oh, and Austin Seibert also missed an extra point that might have sent the game to overtime.
So what kind of grade do you get when you have TWO kickoff returns that go for a touchdown? Let’s get to the Week 12 grades, starting with the Cowboys’ wild win over the Commanders.
