This game was so bad for so long, and then in the final minutes it turned into a crazy-ass roller-coaster ride ending in a long-range field goal with nine seconds left and a 19-16 Cowboys win.With about three minutes to go, Dallas tied the game at 9-9 (woof) and that's when, finally, the game got down to business. Washington did nothing with it's next possession, but also did not burn much clock. Dallas took over and couldn't get much going either, except for another Dez Bryant catch/non-catch, so they punted it right back. DeSean Jackson tried to win the game by running anywhere but straight ahead. It didn't work, obviously; he fumbled and the freaking punter Chris Jones recovered on the Washington 15-yard line with 1:26 left in the game.
Washington would not be the only side to try to biff the ever-loving shit out of this game. On the first play after the recovery, Darren McFadden ran for nine yards, but went out of bounds, killing the clock. So when McFadden scored on the next play, Washington had plenty of time to tie it up. Which they did, with some momentary redemption for Jackson.
Rashad Ross returned the ensuing kickoff 41 yards and a face-mask penalty on Dallas added 15 yards, giving Washington the ball on the Dallas 43-yard line. Four plays later, Kirk Cousins found DeSean Jackson for a 28-yard touchdown into the far corner of the end zone. Amazingly, Washington almost botched the extra point, but the holder, Jones—who almost went from hero to goat—was able to get it down in time—laces in!—for Dustin Hopkins to tie the game with 44 seconds left.
Another big kickoff return kept this game alive in regulation. This time it was Lucky Whitehead returning it 46 yards to the Dallas 44. Matt Cassel hooked up with Dez Bryant on the first two plays for a total of 20 yards, getting the Cowboys within Dan Bailey's field-goal range. From 54 yards out, and with 14 seconds left, Bailey hit it right down the middle for a 19-16 lead. Washington tried a string of laterals on the kickoff but you can only pack so much drama into three minutes of game time, and they couldn't pull it off.The Cowboys are now 4-8 and only one game out of first place in the NFC East because that division is a nightmare.[ESPN]
Advertisement