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On Monday, the Cowboys snatched defeat from the jaws of victory thanks to a disastrous special teams play that turned a blocked punt into a gift the Bengals used to score the touchdown that gave them the win. It was a rough look for the losing team—especially when you consider it learned nothing from the exact same mistake that was made against the Broncos in 2021.
It looked like the Dallas Cowboys were going to have the chance to mount a game-winning drive in the closing minutes of their Monday Night Football showdown with the Bengals after forcing Cincinnati to punt on 4th-and-27 from their own 29-yard line toward the end of the fourth quarter with the score tied at 20.
Those odds appeared to increase significantly when Nick Vigil burst through the line and got a hand on the ball as it left the foot of Ryan Rehkow to block a punt that should have given the Cowboys prime field position as soon as it came to rest.
Unfortunately, Dallas defender Amani Oruwariye made the incredibly ill-advised decision to attempt to scoop up the bouncing ball that deflected off of his hands before it ended up in the possession of Cincinnati’s Maema Njongmeta, which gave the Bengals a new set of downs and the opportunity to mount a drive that ended with them taking a 27-20 lead with around a minute to go in the contest.
The Cowboys blocks the punt… but it was then touched by a Dallas player… and then recovered by the Bengals 🤯
Chaos. @Bengals ball pic.twitter.com/Uw0l4ebH3v
— NFL (@NFL) December 10, 2024
It was an absolutely brutal development for the Cowboys, and while the bulk of the blame ultimately rests on Oruwariye’s shoulders, you also have to point the finger at special teams coordinator John Fassel when you consider Dallas committed an identical error against the Broncos in 2021.
As OptaStats notes, there have only been two instances in the past ten seasons where an NFL team has fallen victim to that particular blocked punt brain fart—and the Cowboys were responsible for both of them.
At this point, it’s hard to imagine Mike McCarthy is going to be coming back for another season as the head coach of the Cowboys, but if he does, he may want to consider a changing of the guard when it comes to the person tasked with overseeing the special teams unit.