ARLINGTON, Texas — With a 1:41 to go Saturday at AT&T Stadium, the Dallas Cowboys led the NFC North champion Detroit Lions 20-13 while the Lions were out of timeouts.
That’s a situation anyone who is a part of Cowboys nation would take in a heartbeat since they would assume 99 times out of 100 with their NFL-best pass rush (45.1% quarterback pressure rate, best in the NFL) powered by Micah Parsons (102 quarterback pressures, most in the NFL) that they would be a shoo-in to fluster an opposing offense that needed to pass to keep the game going. Well, the Cowboys did hang on for a 20-19 victory, but they came oh so close to losing the game.
The Lions offense marched 75 yards in nine plays across a minute and 18 seconds, and the scoring strike was from quarterback Jared Goff to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown for 11 yards.
Then, madness ensued. Detroit went for two and the win, and they appeared to have it after Goff completed a pass to offensive tackle Taylor Decker, number 68. However, Detroit reported tackle Dan Skipper, number 70. as eligible prior to the play, according to referee Brad Allen. Despite that not being how the Lions interpreted that moment playing out, that was the call on the field.
Therefore, the Lions were called for an illegal touching penalty. The Cowboys were in turn called for an infraction with Micah Parsons being called for being offsides on the second try, a play in which Dallas intercepted Goff. Finally, the sequence concluded with Dallas forcing an incomplete pass to hang on for the win.
“I haven’t been a part of one like that,” Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones said postgame Saturday night. “I can only die three times. I don’t know if I can die four, but a great game. Hats off to Detroit. They fight you all the way as they did tonight, but I love the way our guys followed through, finished as Coach [McCarthy] says. Was really proud of our guys and they made it tough on us right out until the last play, obviously.”
Jones, despite being the billionaire owner of the world’s most valuable sports franchise, turned into a regular fan at the moment, needing to look away during the series of events.
“I just lost it twice,” Jones said. “Lost it the first time and really had just almost shut my mind and eyes to it. But when we got a second time, it seemed like too much. And then of course our guys played well and…
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