There was no scarcity of unusual NFL finishes in Week 14.
Kansas Metropolis Chiefs kicker Matthew Wright doinked a 31-yard area purpose try off of the left purpose publish, just for the ball to nonetheless undergo the uprights as time expired to clinch a 19-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Giants misplaced once more in devastating style, this time when the New Orleans Saints blocked Graham Gano’s 35-yard area purpose try with 11 seconds left in Massive Blue’s 14-11 defeat.
However nothing in comparison with how the Dallas Cowboys went down on “Monday Night Football.”
Locked in a 20-20 tie with the Cincinnati Bengals, Dallas linebacker Nick Vigil blocked a punt with 2:00 remaining within the fourth quarter at AT&T Stadium.
The deflected ball landed previous the road of scrimmage, however as an alternative of letting it go by him, Cowboys cornerback Amani Oruwariye tried to scoop the ball. He touched it however failed to gather it cleanly.
That made it a dwell ball, which the Bengals recovered in their very own territory. Joe Burrow discovered Ja’Marr Chase for a 40-yard catch-and-run landing on the following drive, giving Cincinnati an unlikely 27-20 victory.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! 
THE COWBOYS BLOCKED THE PUNT BUT CINCY GOT THE BALL BACK AFTER A DALLAS PLAYER TOUCHED THE BALL! #CINvsDAL | ABC, ESPN pic.twitter.com/vaMWLRHxIa
“When [Oruwariye] turned, when he heard the crowd, the ball was there and he reacted to it,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy mentioned. “So, obviously, a big play in the game.”
The loss dropped the Cowboys to 5-8, dealing one other blow in a disappointing yr by which Dallas was already under .500 when quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending hamstring damage in Week 9.
Their solely residence win of the season got here on Thanksgiving in opposition to the Giants.
Lots of the Cowboys’ losses this yr have been extra simple. The Saints beat them, 44-19. The Detroit Lions routed them, 47-9. And the Philadelphia Eagles rolled them, 34-6, of their first sport with out Prescott.
However Monday marked the most recent occasion of the Cowboys discovering a brand new and strange approach to lose.
There was the 2015 playoff sport in Inexperienced Bay, the place Dez Bryant’s fourth-down catch within the fourth quarter was controversially overturned. Officers dominated Bryant didn’t full the method to the bottom, and the Cowboys went on to lose, 26-21. Followers would lament that “Dez Caught It” for years to return.
There was the 2022 playoff loss in opposition to the San Francisco 49ers, which ended when Prescott gained 17 yards on a quarterback draw however, with no timeouts left, was unable to run one other play earlier than time expired. The Cowboys misplaced, 23-17.
The next yr, the Cowboys’ 19-12 playoff loss to the Niners resulted in a equally head-scratching method. On the ultimate play, operating again Ezekiel Elliott lined up at middle in a gadget formation that featured no different offensive linemen. Elliott was immediately pushed backward to the bottom upon snapping the ball, giving Prescott barely sufficient time to finish a brief cross that went nowhere.
And whereas Monday’s gaffe occurred in a lower-stakes common season-game, the loss nonetheless additional worsened the Cowboys’ playoff odds.
“None of us played a perfect game,” Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis mentioned. “You can’t judge anybody by one decision. [Oruwariye] thought he can make a play. Can’t judge him for that.”
