ARLINGTON, Texas – Seriously, what else can happen in this crazy season?

It’s literally every week that we see something – either on the field, off the field or sometimes both – that we’ve never seen before.

And if we saw it, it was over 30 years ago.

Yes, every single Cowboys fan alive at that 1993 Thanksgiving Day game probably immediately thought of Leon Lett after Amani Oruwariye returned the blocked punt that ultimately led to a game-winning touchdown.

But here’s why it’s not so bad when Leon Lett plays in the snow: The Cowboys never lost another game that year and won the Super Bowl. For the same reason, his fumble in the previous Super Bowl when he held the ball out and let the Bills receiver catch him didn’t hurt either. That only prevented a record, but the Cowboys still won the game and won a damn Super Bowl.

This year we’re all in pain… and no Super Bowl in sight. In fact, the chances of even making the playoffs were virtually lost after that dramatic 27-20 loss to the Bengals.

The Cowboys struggled against Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and the Bengals. It wasn’t pretty and they seemed overwhelmed at times, but here they had a chance to win… and several chances to get the ball, but they came up short.

I’ll be honest, this play where Oruwariye tried to win the ball but missed will definitely go down in history as the play of the game. I think the Cowboys could get into field goal range and take the lead. If that happens, it would just be a matter of how much time the Bengals have left to operate.

But even though that play changed the game, the Cowboys didn’t actually lose the game. For me, it was the consecutive fumble opportunities that they didn’t get.

I’ve seen the play three or four times and it still seems like a fumble. As soon as you put the ball in to run, I thought it was a “football move” and then it came out. If the Cowboys had gotten the ball right there on the Bengals’ 28th, it would have changed everything because they had all the momentum.

But when the replay commissioners in New York signaled to change the call, there was really nothing to check at that point. The booth had already seen it and didn’t want to change it.

But on the very next play the Cowboys get the ball out again, Wilson and Liufau get a sack and fumble… and the Bengals get it back anyway.

That’s when I said in the press box, ‘The game is over.’ I really had that feeling because the entire game, even when it was tied 17-17 and the Cowboys took a 20-17 lead in the fourth felt like the Bengals had a 10 point lead. Obviously that wasn’t the case, but that’s exactly what the Cowboys felt they had to overcome to win this game.
But here they are in the middle of the quarter and there are two chances for a turnover and they don’t get either? Yeah, it’s just not your night.

And yet they had a chance and it didn’t work out.

I mean, seriously, only in this 2024 Cowboys season can you block a punt in the final two minutes of a tied game… and it turns out to be a negative play. That simply shouldn’t happen, but it’s actually quite normal in a season like this.

I’m sure the coaching staff takes some of the blame for this result, whether it’s Mike McCarthy or John Fassel or both. But I don’t buy that at all.

I was sitting up here in the press box when half the people here said, “Stop it!” and then they all said, “What is he doing?”

Nobody up here knows all the rules, but most people know them – just like Oruwariye. We’re not talking about a rookie here, but a sixth-year veteran who has played on a lot of special teams.

As Jourdan Lewis said, he tried to make a play and he didn’t make it. It’s that simple.

And with that, the Cowboys find a way to lose a winnable game – one that will likely end their already slim playoff hopes.

Just when you thought we’d seen everything in this 2024 season, we get a reminder that there’s something else to see.

But unlike the Leon Lett moments, there seems to be no glory at the end of this journey.