The Cowboys went 36-15 in Micah Parsons’ first three NFL seasons. They are 5-8 after an unfathomable 27-20 loss to the Bengals on Monday night.
“This one hurt me more than any loss this year, probably even worse than a playoff loss to be honest, because of where we went, how we played and played good football,” the All-Pro linebacker said. “I’m going to think about this, but I’ve got to find a way to keep these guys alive. There’s still football to be had. There’s still openings. We’ve got to make the most of every opportunity the rest of the way.” We can’t let these kinds of games slip away like we did today.”
On the first play after the two-minute warning in a tied game, Cowboys linebacker Nick Vigil blocked Ryan Rehkow’s kick. Cowboys special teams coordinator John Fassel frantically waved his hands and jumped up and down on the opposite sideline, begging the Cowboys to leave the ball alone.
Cowboys cornerback Amani Oruwariye, who was activated from injured reserve on Monday, didn’t get the message. He tried to pick up the ball and run with it and instead Maema Njongmeta recovered for the Bengals at the Cincinnati 43.
The Cowboys gave up a 40-yard touchdown reception to Ja’Marr Chase three plays later with 1:01 remaining.
ESPN cameras caught Parsons rocking back and forth on the bench after the touchdown and saying, “No! Oh, my God!” He put his head in his hands in disbelief.
Parsons was so distraught that he left the field before the clock struck zero, and afterward he struggled to find words in the locker room.
“Oh, I’m in pain,” Parsons said, pausing. ‘Uh, uh, uh. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. You can’t even put that into words, man, honestly.”
Parsons said the defensive players had no idea what had happened when they were called to return to the field.
“I didn’t even understand what was going on. Nick played great,” Parsons said. “I asked the referee, ‘Explain what happened,’ and he told me we touched the ball. It was definitely a huge momentum shift. We just got a huge stop. We’re going into the two-minute drill. It is just really hard. You’d like to think you can get that match out of that situation.
The Cowboys have had no luck this season and now have little chance of reaching the postseason.
“I don’t want to say it’s a snowball effect, but I don’t know,” Parsons said. ‘It seems like we are paying a debt that is not fair. I don’t know if it’s bad luck, karma, what.’
