legrandangle-lgm

Dallas Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis stepped up for teammate Amani Oruwariye after the latter made a special teams blunder that denied the Cowboys a chance to take a late lead during Monday night’s 27-20 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

With two minutes left in the game, Cowboys linebacker Nick Vigil deflected a punt, but instead of allowing the ball to come to a stop in Cincinnati territory, Oruwariye tried to get the ball back. However, the ball bounced off Oruwariye and the Bengals recovered, giving them another set of downs:

According to ESPN Todd SagittariusLewis made it clear that he did not take the blame for the loss of Oruwariye’s shoulders, saying: “We can’t judge him. None of us played a perfect match. You can’t judge anyone based on one decision. He thought he can make a play. I can’t judge him for that.”

According to Lewis, the Cowboys had their chances, but ultimately didn’t play well enough on defense.

Burrow torched them for 369 yards and three touchdowns through the air, and the Dallas secondary had no answer to the chase, catching 14 passes for 177 yards and two scores, including the game winner.

That’s been a common theme for the Cowboys this season, as they rank 25th in the NFL in total defense and 31st in scoring defense.

The loss dropped Dallas to 5-8 on the season, which likely means another loss will knock the Cowboys out of the playoffs.

Oruwariye’s miscue, followed by Chase’s touchdown, spoiled some solid offensive performances by the Cowboys, including wide receiver CeeDee Lamb’s six receptions for 93 yards and a touchdown, and running back Rico Dowdle’s 131 yards on the ground.

Quarterback Cooper Rush, who has been in the starting lineup since Dak Prescott went down with a season-ending injury, also had an admirable performance, going 16 of 31 for 183 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

For the Bengals, Monday’s game was essentially a must-win situation as they started the season with eight losses.

A loss to Dallas would have guaranteed Cincinnati a losing season, which almost certainly wouldn’t have been good enough for a playoff spot in the AFC.

The Bengals still face an uphill climb at 5-8, but Burrow, Chase, Chase Brown and their explosive offense came through when they needed it most.

Cincinnati also finally got the kind of big break it’s needed all year, with a blocked punt leading to another set of downs and ultimately a touchdown.

After a five-game losing streak and Prescott’s injury, the Cowboys were seemingly on the brink of collapse, but a two-game winning streak gave them renewed hope.

Extending the winning streak to three would have been huge, especially considering Dallas has a winnable game against the Carolina Panthers next week.

Instead, the heartbreaking loss will put Dallas in must-win mode for the rest of the season, as the team will likely have to take the lead against the Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders.