The Dallas Cowboys had the opponent exactly where they wanted them. Looking to win their fifth straight game, the club was rolling in Jacksonville. The club scored touchdowns on two of their first three possessions before leading 21-7 at halftime. They stretched the lead to 27-10 with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter and appeared to have righted their ship from a couple games against inferior opponents that took far too long to salt away.
But Dallas didn’t salt this game away, either, despite the big lead. Trevor Lawrence led the Jaguars on two quick scoring drives sandwiched around a horrible Dak Prescott interception. Soon after, Dallas found themselves trailing, then leading, then botching a chance to seal the win only to end up in overtime. There, a defensive stand led to a game-winning drive bounce off the arms of Noah Brown and right to a Jaguars defender who returned an interception for a Pick-Six. Game over, Dallas loses, 40-34.
To add insult to injury, literally, the Cowboys suffered additional manpower losses as Leighton Vander Esch and Dorance Armstrong left the game and didn’t return.
Dallas’ record falls to 10-4 and combined with the Philadelphia Eagles holding on against Chicago puts their chances of defending the NFC East title on life support. The Cowboys have to win out, including Saturday at home against the Eagles, and Philadelphia has to los their last two after that.
The Cowboys also failed to clinch a playoff berth on the day, though that may still happen if the New York Giants defeat the Washington Commanders on Sunday Night Football.