Commanders lose to Cowboys after wild finish that includes missed PAT, two 80+ yard TDs

After three slow quarters, the NFC East rivalry came to life.

The Dallas Cowboys scored a 99-yard touchdown and the Washington Commanders scored an 86-yard touchdown in the final three minutes of what became an out-of-control fourth quarter.

Ultimately, the Cowboys snapped a five-game losing streak with the 34-26 win, improving to 4-7 as the Commanders fell to 7-5 with their third consecutive loss.

But before any of those outcomes were assured, the teams played a wild fourth quarter.

Let’s break it down.

Just as Washington pulled to within three points with a little over three minutes left, kick returner KaVontae Turpin struck back. The ensuing kickoff bounced through Turpin’s legs, a fitting last gaffe for a group that had already endured a field goal blocked, a field goal missed and a punt blocked.

But Turpin nonetheless grabbed the loose ball at the 1-yard line and powered a spin move to confuse the Commanders’ leverage.

His 99-yard touchdown seemed to seal the Cowboys win.

Until Daniels found Terry McLaurin for an 86-yard catch-and-run on the first play of their final-30-seconds drive.

Trailing by one, Washington opted to go for the more surefire extra-point attempt than the two-point attempt.

Austin Seibert’s kick – like many before it, on what play-by-play announcer Joe Davis fittingly called the “worst special teams day in history” – shanked wide left.

Washington attempted an onside kick for a last-ditch effort, Cowboys safety Juanyeh Thomas instead recovering it and returning it for a 43-yard touchdown.

The Cowboys now led by eight. But was scoring wiser than running out the clock against a team that beat the Chicago Bears on a Hail Mary this year?

Daniels scrambled around as he set up his from final play 58 yards from the end zone. But this time, the well-arced ball wasn’t tipped into his teammate’s hand. Safety Israel Mukuamu grabbed the game-winning interception.

Daniels completed 25 of 38 pass attempts for 275 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions including the final Hail Mary. He also rushed seven times for 74 yards and another score, a 15-yard run around the left end to give the Commanders a 9-3 on the first drive of the second half.

Cooper Rush justified Jerry Jones’ insistence that he, rather than Trey Lance, gave the club its best chance to win in the wake of Dak Prescott’s season-ending hamstring surgery.

Rush completed 24 of 32 pass attempts for 247 yards and two touchdowns, while taking just one sack and committing no turnovers.

In addition to his fourth quarter throw to Schoonmaker, Rush found a well-defended Jalen Tolbert for a six-yard touchdown that helped the Cowboys take a 10-9 lead.

The prospect of either team, much less both, scoring 25 points on the day seemed unlikely when they entered halftime at 3-3. It wasn’t just that the Cowboys were struggling without three Pro Bowl players and the Commanders were continuing to grasp, unsuccessfully, for a rhythm they’d established before Daniels’ midseason rib injury.

Rather, the first half’s absurdity centered more on how each team, and especially their special teams units, struggled.

The Commanders blocked a Cowboys field-goal attempt before connecting on their own. Dallas kicker Brandon Aubrey’s second attempt doinked off the right upright, a bonanza Washington entered when missing its own field goal.

Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle fumbled in the first quarter before Daniels threw an interception in the second. The teams combined for six punts before Aubrey made his first field goal of the day, a 46-yard attempt, seconds before halftime.

Six first-half punts were interrupted only by Dallas defensive lineman Chauncey Golston’s highlight-reel interception.

The Cowboys’ lone first-half score came off perhaps the game’s most ridiculous play of all.

Commanders cornerback Noah Igbinoghene intercepted Rush’s pass attempt to receiver CeeDee Lamb, Igbignoghene ultimately fumbling it for Cowboys full back Hunter Luepke to recover. Officials flagged Igbigoghene for defensive pass interference on the play, rendering most of the sloppiness moot as the Cowboys stayed on the field.

Coming out of halftime, Washington leaned heavily on the run, alternating carries between Daniels and running backs Austin Ekeler and Jeremy McNichols as normal starter Brian Robinson Jr. nursed an ankle injury. Facing third-and-3 in the red zone, Daniels faked a handoff to Ekeler then tucked and scurried around the left end for a 17-yard, go-ahead touchdown.

Things only got wilder from there.