LANDOVER, Md. – For nearly 57 minutes of the Cowboys' game against the Commanders, it looked as though special teams miscues could be the detrimental factor that would lead them to six straight losses.
In the final three minutes, it won them the game thanks to a 99-yard kickoff return from KaVontae Turpin and another 43-yard touchdown return from Juanyeh Thomas.
"Once I hit the spin move and I got through, I knew for sure it was a touchdown." Turpin said of his game-changing play.
In the earlier parts of the game, the Cowboys had seen two missed field goals, one blocked and one off the upright, a blocked punt, a kickoff that didn't reach the landing zone, and a Turpin return on a ball that was inches away from going out of bounds. In the end, none of it mattered.
Turpin's touchdown made it a 27-17 Cowboys lead with less than three minutes to play, but the Commanders were far from out of it. They went on to score 10 points in a minute and 19 seconds of game time, with an 86-yard catch and run from Terry McLaurin giving Washington a chance to tie the game.
Only they didn't, as Austin Seibert missed the extra point giving Dallas a one-point advantage with 21 seconds left. On Washington's ensuing onside kick, Thomas got his touchdown return to cap off an emotional victory.
"I'm happy for Juanyeh, he scored a touchdown, but at the same time, I was like, 'Get down!'" Cooper Rush said laughingly of the final moment of the game.
Mike McCarthy has preached about wanting to play complimentary football all season long. After it looked like their special teams unit couldn't compliment anybody through a majority of the game, it came through at the perfect time in the end.
"It was a tale of two halves, their special teams made the good plays in the first half, ours made them in the second half," McCarthy said. "And then we got down to it at the end here and it was just a game situational extravaganza. It was like Yahtzee, everything was in there… we still have to execute in those spots."
It'll be a short week for the Cowboys to work on their execution in those spots, as the New York Giants come to town for Thanksgiving on Thursday.
