A lot of us might have had preconceptions about the Dallas Cowboys and thought they might lose to the Washington Commanders. Instead, it turned out to be one of the most exciting games we’ve seen from the Cowboys this season. Mike McCarthy beat his former colleague, Dan Quinn, after all. However, the Dallas head coach is far from excited.
A CBS Sports writer took to X and shared McCarthy’s stance on the 34-26 win against Dan Quinn’s Commanders. His post said, “Mike McCarthy isn’t worried about the #DallasCowboys getting overexcited about their Week 12 win.” After ending a 5-game losing streak, the America’s team’s head coach still believes that he has no room for complacency.
“We’re still pretty far down in the valley of adversity right now. So, we’ve got to make one step in the right direction,” McCarthy said. “We still got a lot of climbing to do.” The game was pretty scoreless in the first half, with both teams settling on a field goal, but then picked up the pace in the blink of an eye in the late third quarter.
With both teams tied 3-3, Jayden Daniels ran for a 17-yard touchdown, but Washington missed the kick. Then, Cooper Rush found Jalen Tolbert in the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown and the Cowboys were up by a single point (9-10). With the game on the line, both teams gave it their all in the fourth quarter.
Mike McCarthy and the Cowboys turn it up in the fourth
It started with Brandon Aubrey completing a 48-yard kick and then Cooper Rush scoring a 22-yard touchdown on a pass to Luke Schoonmaker. The Commanders tried to neutralize the score with Zack Ertz scoring a touchdown on a four-yard pass from Jayden Daniels, but the Commanders still trailed 17-20. Then, the game suddenly became more exciting.
KeVontae Turpin turned the game upside down with his 99-yard run. That was probably the largest kick return this season and Turpin hitting a nasty spin move made it even more exciting. Needless to say, he scored and extended the Cowboys lead by 10 points (17-27).
“When I picked it up, I still had like 20 yards in front of me,” Turpin said. “I was like ‘Man, I can make something out of that at this point.’ I was just calm, just being me… trying to make a play.” But it didn’t stop there because both teams were desperate for a win.
Austin Seibert, the Commanders kicker added more points on the board with his 51-yard field goal but missed another kick on the 86-yard touchdown that Terry McLaurin scored on a pass from Daniels. That pass from Daniels might have had people falling from their seats.
However, the Cowboys did one better with the game on the line (27-26). The Commanders kicked the ball and Juanyeh Thomas picked it up and returned it with a 43-yard touchdown. It was unbelievable! In all honesty, we were not expecting the Cowboys to make such bold moves in the game. However, with a tense locker room, an upset coach, and the management, everything seems to be a possibility.
