ARLINGTON, Texas – This was all enough to make a grown man cry.
A strange dichotomy. Tears of loss. Tears of joy.
The crushing disappointment four hours before kickoff here Sunday night at AT&T Stadium for the Dallas Cowboys, knowing they needed the 12-2 Philadelphia Eagles, riding a 10-game winning streak and with a chance to clinch the NFC East title, to beat the 9-5 Washington Commanders. Doing so would give meaning to the Cowboys' final three games of the season, including Sunday night's against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
But here came the NFL gods, pummeling Dallas all season long, right from the start of training camp with injury after injury after injury, with funky things occurring time after time – the most compelling blow the blocked punt against Cincinnati right after the two-minute warning of a 20-20 game that turned into a Cowboys muff of the punt and ensuring the Bengals winning touchdown – with the knockout haymaker.
Why of all things, and you can't make this stuff up, the Eagles lose starting quarterback Jalen Hurts to a concussion with 9:52 left in the first quarter, having to turn to backup Kenny Pickett, who had attempted just three passes all season long during his seven snaps. Then during the course of the day, Philadelphia loses pass-rushing outside linebacker Josh Sweat, cornerback Darius Slay and safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson after his second personal foul of the game.
And then there was all this: The Commanders' fourth-and-11 conversion with quarterback Jayden Daniels scrambling for 29 yards, leading to an eventual touchdown; the Commanders overcoming six turnovers; overcoming the Eagles' Saquon Barkley's 123 yards rushing and two touchdowns … in the first half; overcoming Philly leads of 21-7 and 33-28; and the Commanders surviving with the game on the line while trailing 30-28 on an Eagles' third-and-5 at the Washington 22-yard line with just 2:07 remaining, Philadelphia needing just a first down to likely run out the clock for the win that would have clinched the division title and given meaning to the Cowboys' game later that evening.
But Pickett's pass to a wide open, sure-handed DaVonta Smith fell out of those hands, dropping the ball that would have sewed up the game not once but a second time when trying to double-clutch, leading to the Eagles' consolation field goal and giving the Commanders one last chance to win the game.
And dang if they didn't, the Commanders, who had not won 10 games in a regular season since 2012 and did not have a quarterback throw five touchdown passes in a game since Mark Rypien in 1991, had the for-sure NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year Daniels throw a nine-yard, game-winning, Cowboys-eliminating touchdown pass to Jamison Crowder with all of six seconds remaining, only the receivers' sixth catch of the season and second TD.
Ballgame.
The Cowboys finished. Done. Still three games to play. Enough to turn your stomach.
"That was a kick in the gut for everybody," Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said.
"A bummer," said Cowboys veteran Nick Vigil, having to start at middle linebacker without the benefits of a practice for the past couple weeks, yet playing through a foot injury when starter Eric Kendricks just couldn't go after warming up.
Then with nothing to seemingly inspire these Cowboys, they came out before 93,103 mostly towel-waving fans, rooting on the Cowboys as if they were the ones playing for a division title themselves. And indeed, they played spine-tingling, inspiring football. Fighting, grinding, hanging on for dear life against a Buccaneers team desperately trying to cling to first place in the NFC South.
And I'll be darned, these beat-up, verbally abused Cowboys won. They defied the odds against a team that was riding a four-game winning streak. One that had given up an average of but 15 points a game during that stretch. One with their quarterback, Baker Mayfield, leading the Bucs to scores of 30 points, 26, 28 and 40 in those victories.
Come on, Cowboys 26, Buccaneers 24.
Cowboys winning for the fourth time in five games.
Cowboys winning to improve to 7-8.
Cowboys winning despite gaining just 74 second-half yards on 21 second-half plays.
Cowboys winning despite rushing for a grand total of 31 yards.
Cowboys winning despite Mayfield throwing for 303 yards and two touchdowns.
You better believe it, buddy.
Seriously now, this time of the holiday season you probably have heard of the movie Miracle on 34th Street. Well, to a certain extent, with long odds and nearly all picking the Bucs to run the poor Cowboys out of their own house, we present you "Miracle on Randol Mill."
Likely producing those tears of joy. If only you guys could have been in that locker room afterward.
"Proud of the boys," said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, shirt buttons popping as if these were his own grandkids.
"I just love the way this team plays," McCarthy beamed, pointing out his boys' "pride, character, resiliency."
No kidding. These Cowboys almost make you forget they were playing with a backup quarterback (Cooper Rush), a backup right guard (Brock Hoffman), a courageous wide receiver playing with a bum shoulder causing him to take a knee at times when landing on his right side (CeeDee Lamb), a pair of backup linebackers (Vigil and Marist Liufau), a backup cornerback (Amani Oruwariye), a host of backup defensive ends (Chauncey Golston, Marshawn Kneeland, Carl Lawson), their leader in sacks playing through a Friday illness (Micah Parsons) and two more backup receivers (Ryan Flournoy and Jonathan Mingo).
Plus, this Brandon Aubrey guy kicks four more field goals, three of those from 50-plus and a fourth just one yard shy. He now owns the NFL single-season record for most field goals of 50-plus yards with 14 and counting. Lamb hauls in seven catches for 105 yards, giving him 101 receptions for this season, just the third NFL receiver with three 100-catch years in his first five. Rush throws for 292 yards. The defense sacks Mayfield four times. Slot cornerback Jourdan Lewis not only saves a touchdown but with a spectacular end-zone interception, ripping the ball away from Bucs receiver Jalen McMillian on the way down, causes Jones to say, "That was the best interception I've ever seen."
Want more?
There was the DaRon Bland, having to deal with an all-day sucker in covering Tampa Bay receiver Mike Evans (5 catches, 69 yards and most important, no TDs). He then snatched the ball away from Buccaneers running back Rachaad White after his catch of a shovel-pass from Mayfield with but 1:31 left in the game. This came at the Tampa Bay 32-yard line and the Bucs trailing by just two points, Bland sealing the victory.
Of all things we've seen this season, of all the criticism the Cowboys have withstood, with the Washington win ripping their hearts out, knowing there was nothing tangible to play for, there was Rush taking a knee those final 90 seconds in victory formation when the team very well could have taken a knee for the remainder of the season.
And I'll be, considering these fans had seen the Cowboys win at home only once previously to Sunday night, there they were, staying to the end, no matter what the victory was worth, giving this team a standing ovation. As if receiving a holiday cherry atop this Sunday.
Yes, probably too little too late for the Cowboys, who endured a five-game losing streak, falling at that point to a humbling 3-7. And as late as this past week, they were given only a 1 percent chance to qualify for the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.
But at 7-8 with next week's game at Philadelphia, possibly playing without Hurts (concussion protocol), and then back here against the Commanders, these Cowboys have preserved the chance for at least another week of finishing with a winning record overall as well as above .500 in the NFC East, currently at 3-1.
These guys didn't blink after the Washington win.
"We had to play for ourselves, play for the people in the locker room, play for your futures," Vigil said, only his third NFL start in the past three seasons and his 69 snaps on Sunday 16 more than he had played defensively all season. "Speaks volumes for the people in here."
"We were eliminated," rookie center Cooper Beebe said, finding out on the bus ride to the stadium. "But we still came out here to fight."
You know, even McCarthy said he had "to check myself" after viewing the Washington win, its 10th, a total his Cowboys couldn't reach. Yet he knew there was a game to play. But he read the room and decided to not make a big deal out of elimination, and the only thing he changed was instead of their plan to defer if winning the coin toss, he decided to take the ball instead, and the Cowboys took it right down field for Aubrey's first of four field goals.
And not proud to admit this, had to "check myself," too, heading over to cover a game without playoff meaning, and dreading the coming two weeks, knowing in this case it's over before it's over, thinking of the line in, of all things, the Eagles' "Hotel California," the one going, "You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave."
Well, these Cowboys proved there indeed was something to play for, as Aubrey said, "Nobody likes to lose. There is no excuse to not go out and play a good game."
Pride indeed can be an intoxicating elixir.
