ARLINGTON, Texas — Micah Parsons rocked back and forth on the bench in agony after Cincinnati’s winning touchdown that followed a botched blocked punt from his Dallas Cowboys.
The star pass rusher couldn’t bear to watch the end, so he left the field before the clock hit zeros in the Bengals’ 27-20 victory Monday night.
Joe Burrow’s tiebreaking 40-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Marr Chase with 1:01 remaining was possible only because the Cowboys touched a blocked punt that would have put them in position for the victory in the final two minutes.
“Oh, I hurt,” Parsons said in the locker room, the normally loquacious two-time All-Pro pausing to try to find the right words. “I won’t wish this on anybody. You can’t even put that in words, bro, to be honest.”
The Cowboys were about to get the ball back with the score tied on the first play after the two-minute warning when Nick Vigil blocked Ryan Rehkow’s punt.
Amani Oruwariye tried to field the bouncing ball when leaving it alone would have given Dallas possession. Oruwariye couldn’t hold on, and the Bengals’ Maema Njongmeta recovered at the Cincinnati 43-yard line with 1:53 remaining.
The Burrow-Chase winner came three plays later with 1:01 to go. Dallas only got as far as its 48-yard line before a turnover on downs with 24 seconds remaining.
The Cowboys (5-8) were a long shot for a fourth consecutive trip to the playoffs. Those hopes are all but gone now. Dallas had won two in a row going into the Cincinnati game after losing the previous five.
“This one hurt me more than any loss this year, probably even worse than a playoff loss to be honest, because of where we were going, how we were playing, playing good football,” Parsons said. “I’m going to sit on this, but I have to find a way to keep these guys alive. There’s still football to be had.”
For the Cowboys, Oruwariye’s gaffe was hauntingly familiar to a snowy Thanksgiving Day in 1993 at Texas Stadium.
Leon Lett inexplicably slid in on the snow-covered field to try to recover a blocked field goal in the final seconds that would have given Dallas a victory over Miami. The Dolphins recovered and kicked a field goal on the final play for a 16-14 victory.
On that bitterly cold day 31 years ago, owner Jerry Jones was shown celebrating on the sideline after the block, and the smile slowly disappeared as he realized something was still happening on the field.
Those Cowboys were good enough to recover and win a second consecutive Super Bowl, part of the NFL’s first run of three championships in four seasons.
These Cowboys are trying to win without star quarterback Dak Prescott and seven-time All-Pro right guard Zack Martin, among others. Prescott had season-ending surgery on a torn hamstring last month, and Martin is set for season-ending ankle surgery next week.
“That locker room is really devastated by the turn of events on the blocked kick,” Jones said. “Obviously, we had a block kick call made, and then had one and so many odds that turn against us, and we all would say, ‘Well, why block the kick? Just take the kick and get the field goal and kick it.’ We’ll all be second-guessing that one.”
Special teams coach John Fassel frantically waved from the sideline for all his players to get away from the ball after the block, but Oruwariye never hesitated to try to grab it.
Two of Oruwariye’s fellow defensive backs, Jourdan Lewis and special teams ace C.J. Goodwin, kept reporters away from the sixth-year player in the locker room.
“None of us played a perfect game,” Lewis said. “We can’t judge anybody by one decision. He thought he could make a play. All we can do is learn from it and support him.”
McCarthy didn’t take issue with Parsons leaving the bench before the game was over.
“Everybody’s frustrated, without a doubt, and rightfully so,” McCarthy said. “I would expect it. Those guys poured their hearts out tonight. Everybody’s disappointed.”
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