ARLINGTON, Texas – A season that was already painful in many ways took a dramatic turn and got even worse for the Dallas Cowboys with Monday’s 27-20 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

At 5-8 with four games left, the Cowboys’ chances of making the playoffs for the fourth straight year were slim before kickoff and even slimmed afterward.

“Just do the math,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “Obviously we haven’t even achieved the same thing yet. We’re still in a fix. That’s why we need a lot of help. Only the role of the captain is obvious here. That hurts. We had to have that. That’s how we did it.”

And the Cowboys were in position to win their third straight game to at least get closer to postseason contention when linebacker Nick Vigil blocked a Bengals punt after the two-minute warning.

But instead of dodging the ball, cornerback Amani Oruwariye parried a scoop attempt and the Bengals rallied, giving Cincinnati a chance to go for the go-ahead touchdown three plays later when Joe Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase completed from 40 yards.

“AO was in a tough situation,” McCarthy said, “and then he heard the roar of the crowd and as he turned around – he understands the rule, once the ball crosses the line – he reacted as he turned around heard.” The audience, the ball was there and he reacted to it. So it was obviously a big play.

In the locker room after the game, several teammates shielded Oruwariye from the media. He was placed on injured reserve on Monday after suffering a back injury. He contributed to the Cowboys’ Week 4 win over the New York Giants by intercepting a Hail Mary attempt.

“We can’t judge him,” cornerback Jourdan Lewis said. “None of us played a perfect game. You can’t judge someone based on a single decision. He thought he could make a play. You can’t judge him for that.”

Owner and general manager Jerry Jones didn’t blame Oruwariye, but questioned whether it would have been better for the Cowboys to simply return the punt and whether they would have had a chance to win the game with a longer offensive play. Had Oruwariye not touched the ball, the Cowboys would have had the ball in Cincinnati territory.

“I’m sure the chance of the ball bouncing into one of our players after we touch the ball on a block is slim,” Jones said. “The chances are slim, but I don’t know if those chances are better than if we had made the kick and got the ball, got into field goal range and kicked the ball.”

In 2021, former cornerback Nahshon Wright suffered a similar fate to Oruwariye in a loss to the Denver Broncos. Even more famously, Leon Lett touched and slipped on a deflected field goal attempt in icy conditions at Texas Stadium in 1993 to give the Miami Dolphins another chance to win the Thanksgiving Day game.

These Cowboys won their second straight Super Bowl with Jimmy Johnson as coach. These Cowboys have four regular season games left, which could potentially be followed by an offseason move from coaches to players.

McCarthy and the entire coaching staff do not have contracts for 2025. Almost 20 players are expected to be unrestricted free agents.

“I don’t judge these things so much on how difficult they are or how well they’re made,” Jones said. “I always make these decisions in my role, they all have great consequences. All decisions like that regarding coaching training, personnel players, all those things, I don’t want to call them difficult. They” “They’re just very serious, impactful decisions.”

As expected, it was quiet in the locker room after the game. McCarthy said the pre-game preparation was the best it had been all season. The Cowboys’ defense limited the Bengals’ potent offense as best it could, even after losing linebacker DeMarvion Overshown to a serious knee injury.

The offense managed 183 rushing yards, led by Rico Dowdle’s second straight 100-yard game, and was confident it could find success in the final moments.

But then the chance was gone.

“I’m hurt. I won’t wish that on anyone,” edge rusher Micah Parsons said. “Man, I honestly can’t put it into words. … Between the (injured) players, in some of these situations it’s just, I don’t want to say it snowballs, but I feel like we’re paying a debt that isn’t fair.

“I don’t know if it’s bad luck, Karma.”