ARLINGTON, Texas – Of all dang things, a tie.
A tie?
In my 42-season career of covering these Dallas Cowboys, never have I ever witnessed a regular season tie.
Why, not since 1969 has this franchised played to a tie.
And not just any tie. A 40-40 tie, the second-largest tie score in NFL history.
Cowboys 40, Green Bay Packers 40, here Sunday night at AT&T Stadium, absolutely not what any of the 93,353 people squeezing in here with the roof open were expecting. And because of a hand injury, thought the only tie missing would be the one I wasn't wearing.
Ha, little did I know.
The Cowboys fans came here fearing the worst after Dallas stumbled out of Chicago last Sunday with a 1-2 record and were facing a 2-1 Packers team that had beaten the Cowboys nine of the last 10 times and had never lost a game at AT&T Stadium, including in a Super Bowl.
The Cheeseheads packing in here were expecting a coronation, and expecting Micah Parsons to put on a redemption performance, making Cowboys owner Jerry Jones pay dearly for trading him away.
But guarantee you, when the Cowboys woke up Monday morning, they weren't feeling good about being 1-2-1. They weren't taking solace in being competitive.
At least Dak Prescott admitted in the end, "Never happy with tying, but much better than losing."
Or as head coach Brian Schottenheimer said, after admitting he "had seen a lot of games in the NFL; this definitely will be one I'll remember." He then said, "No one in that locker room is happy. We didn't win."
Nope, they didn't. Came within one second of doing so. One tick of the clock. Because up 40-37 with six seconds remaining in the 10-minute overtime, the Packers were facing a third-and 14 from the Dallas 16-yad line with the clock running. Green Bay quarterback Jordan Love, who had passed for 337 yards and three touchdowns, under pressure went for broke, throwing into a cluster in the end zone with time running out.
And of all things, with Cowboys linebacker Jack Sanborn scrambling into coverage underneath Packers receiver Mathew Golden, Love's pass hits him in the back, falling incomplete. And stunningly, there remained one tick left on the clock when the ball hit the ground. One lonely second, enough for kicker Brandon McManus to boot the game-tying 34-yard field goal.
Kissing your sister?
More like your pet.
As COO Stephen Jones said this morning, "As Jerry said after the game, it's better than losing, but it damn sure is not winning."
And here are the reasons it darn sure hurts.
The Cowboys, after trailing 13-0 in the first 4:23 of the game, actually clawed their way back into five leads, 16-13, 23-20, 30-27 and 37-34 with 43 seconds left in regulation before allowing a walk-into-overtime field goal by McManus from 53 yards out. And then finally the 40-37 lead with 4:40 left in OT.
Yet painfully that final lead unraveled.
Here is another. The Cowboys were playing without CeeDee Lamb. Without center Cooper Beebe. Without first-round draft choice Tyler booker. Finished OT without tackle Tyler Guyton. Played cornerback Trevon Diggs sparingly. Lost safety Malik Hooker early in the third quarter and second running back Malik Sanders too.
Oh, and they didn't have Micah either. He was playing with them others.
But here is what they did have:
They had Dak Prescott throwing for 319 yards and three touchdowns for a 124.9 QB rating, as well as running in for another TD.
They had George Pickens, eight catches, 134 yards, two TDs and one circus catch between two defenders for 28 yards to the Packers' 1-yard line to set up Dak's TD scamper.
They had KaVontae Turpin, 3 catches 30 yards and 175 yards of kickoff returns, the final one 45 yards to send the Cowboys sailing in overtime.
They had T.J. Bass and Brock Hoffman starting in the middle of that offensive line, helping to hold the Packers' vaunted pass rush to one sack, that coming in overtime when Micah yanked Dak down from behind trying to escape pressure.
They had youngin's on defense stepping up, like Marist Liufau starting at linebacker, Shemar James making his NFL debut, Reddy Steward holding his own in the slot again, Juanyeh Thomas having to step in at safety for Hooker – after he blocked an extra point attempt, the ball landing in the hands of Markquese Bell, who rambled for a two-point return – second-year wide receiver Ryan Flournoy with a couple of big catches and rookie Donovan Ezeiruaku coming into his own with five tackles, one tackle for loss and several pressures.
And how about Jalen Tolbert with that huge acrobatic 34-yard catch in OT, setting Dallas up with a first-and-goal at the 5, only for the Cowboys to settle for the field goal.
"The depth of this football team is something we are really proud of," Schottenheimer said.
These are the very reasons this tie hurt so bad.
You'd think scoring 40 points would be enough to win the game, especially against a Packers defense having given up just 44 points in three games. Putting 436 yards on a defense giving up just 232.3 yards a game. And the Cowboys running for 117 yards, for the fourth consecutive 100-yard performance against a defense yielding only 64.3 a game
And on top of all that, this offense that scored just one touchdown in Chicago, after starting off the Packers game with two punts, scored touchdowns on four of its next five possessions while kicking a field goal on the sixth.
Encouraging, yet disappointing, but thank goodness making this game something more than about Micah's return, using his money to spread through team, meaning the whole is greater than singular parts.
"I mean, these guys, I thought just competed their asses off," Schottenheimer said. "And that's the sour thing for me because I wanted to win for them."
And that just about sums up a tie.
