ARLINGTON, Texas – Sometimes, what goes around, really does come around.
And in this case, it just took seven days.
A week ago, against the Broncos, rookie cornerback Nahshon Wright made a mental error on special teams that cost the Cowboys some momentum that they were never able to muster. The Cowboys blocked a punt that crossed the line of scrimmage and Wright attempted to catch it, but muffed the ball, that was recovered by the Broncos for a first down.
After that disappointing loss, Wright said, "I know I shouldn't have touched it, but I was trying to scoop it and score and make a play."
A week later, facing the Falcons in a game in which Dallas held all of the momentum for four quarters, Wright had his moment of special teams redemption.
With under a minute left before halftime, the Cowboys once again blocked a punt with their opponent backed up near their own end zone. This time it was Dorance Armstrong who broke through to block the punt. Fortunately for the Cowboys, the ball went backwards this week and rolled towards the goal line.
"We got them confused [with the formation]," Armstrong said after the game. "I came free. That was my first [blocked punt] ever, so I was pretty excited. It felt good."
Wright, who was much more excited to be interviewed this week, described the play.
"Again, I was able to see it get blocked," Wright said of the play in comparison to the one a week earlier against Denver. "This time it was behind the line of scrimmage, going towards the end zone."
Wright's eagerness to make a play on special teams paid off this time around when he was the one to manage to dive on the ball and gain possession resulting in a touchdown.
"I just jumped on it," Wright said. "I made sure I got in the end zone."
The coaching staff didn't try to blame the NFL's odd rule that resulted in the previous week's play allowing Denver to maintain possession. They stated that Wright made a mistake, but that doesn't mean they didn't continue to believe in the rookie on special teams.
"Coach Bones [John Fasell] encouraged me to continue to try to make plays so something like this today, I'm not afraid to make the play," Wright said.
