The Dallas Cowboys were left feeling demoralized after losing to the Cincinnati Bengals in gut-wrenching fashion, 27-20, on Monday Night Football.
Dallas has had a rough home season, losing six of their seven contests at AT&T Stadium, some of which were blowouts. But Monday's took the cake.
On the first play after the two-minute warning and the score tied, Cowboys linebacker Nick Vigil blocked Bengals punter Ryan Rehkow's punt. Cowboys cornerback Amani Oruwariye, who was activated from injured reserve Monday and wasn't listed on the rosters given to the press, attempted to pick up the ball and run with it but couldn't coral the bouncing ball. His blunder allowed a Bengal to fall on it and give Cincinnati a new set of downs starting on their own 43-yard line.
Bengals star receiver, Ja'Marr Chase, who had 14 catches for 177 yards and two touchdowns, scored a 40-yard touchdown three plays later to seal the win for Cincinnati.
Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said the end of the game was "depressing" but didn't blame Oruwariye for a mistake he made in what Jones described as "organized chaos."
"It's a shame it ended that way," Jones added.
Despite all of the blowout losses the Cowboys have suffered this season at home, Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons said this loss hurt more than any of them and maybe even more than the 2023 playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers.
“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. There’s still openings to be had. We have to take advantage of every opportunity the rest of the way. We can’t let these type of games slip away like we did today.”