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'Guys Are Stunned!' Cowboys Top 10 Takes from Choke at Jaguars

A catch that should've been a first down turned into a drop for a touchdown in a gut-wrenching 40-34 overtime loss to the Jaguars.

Richie Whitt

'Guys Are Stunned!' Cowboys Top 10 Takes from Choke at Jaguars
'Guys Are Stunned!' Cowboys Top 10 Takes from Choke at Jaguars /

The Grinch - disguised as Rayshawn Jenkins - stole Christmas Eve.

Driving for an overtime score that would've clinched a playoff berth and sweetened the pot for Saturday's NFC East showdown against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys instead bobbled a first down into a touchdown in a gut-wrenching, 40-34, overtime loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“Guys are stunned,” Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott said. “Guys are definitely upset. But we got to use this and grow from it. We got a lot of football left.”

True. But first ...

10. First Down ... Touchdown - Can't blame Dak Prescott for this walk-off Pick Six. With Dallas driving and facing 3rd-and-4 near midfield, he rolled left and delivered an on-target pass to receiver Noah Brown that should've been enough for a crucial first down in Jags' territory. Instead, a sliding Brown botched the catch and wound up bobbling the ball into the air. 

Jacksonville safety Rayshawn Jenkins caught it cleanly and scampered untouched for the game-ending, 51-yard touchdown. Prescott wasn't perfect. But this one is all on Brown.

Dallas coach Mike McCarthy labeled it "unlucky.''

9. Football Over Futbol - Argentina surviving France in penalty kicks in the World Cup final was a decent appetizer, but this game had a season's worth of soccer drama squeezed into the final 20 minutes.

8. Buh-Bye - With the loss, the NFC East belongs to the Eagles. Dallas? The Cowboys earned their Wild-Card road in the postseason. How? By coughing up big second-half leads to losing teams: 14 points in Green Bay and 17 points in Jacksonville. 

Division champs deserving of a Bye don't lose those games.

The Cowboys, by the way, do end up clinching a playoff berth on this day as the Giants beat Washington.

7. Passive Possession - After Prescott went 5 of 5 to engineer a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive to give the Cowboys a late 34-31 lead, they were in prime position to win and improve to 11-3. They felt even better when safety Jayvon Kearse caused a fumble recovered by Micah Parsons at Dallas' 38 on Jacksonville's ensuing possession. 

But with the ball, a three-point lead and only 1:28 remaining, the Cowboys' offense left the door ajar. The goal of the possession: 

1) Run out the clock; 

2) Make Jacksonville burn its remaining timeouts. 

Dallas did neither. 

After two runs for no yards and a deep incompletion to Brown that still boggles the brain, the Jags got the ball back at their 29 with 1:12 still remaining and timeout in their pocket. 

Great teams find a way to get one first down.

6. Excuse Us?! - McCarthy should be fuming. At his quarterback for throwing an inexcusable end-zone interception that fueled Jacksonville's comeback. At his defense for allowing 503 yards to the Jags. And to Brown for blatantly turning a positive into a game-losing negative. 

Instead? 

Again ... He's blaming ... luck? Sorry, but there is no "unlucky bounce" without Brown's "botched, bobbled drop."

5. Hold That Thought - While it appears the Cowboys are putting Odell Beckham Jr. on a layaway plan, placeholder receiver T.Y. Hilton was surprisingly inactive. The end result was Brown resurfacing with eight targets and two touchdowns. For a minute it appeared he might have the game-winning catch. Instead, he produced the game-losing drop.

4. Tweaked History - Brown's bobble simply wasn't supposed to happen. Jenkins gets all the accolades, but truth is if the Cowboys' receiver makes a relatively simple sliding catch the Jags' safety was in no position to do anything other than touch him down for a Dallas first down. 

Instead ... the Jags won for the first time in 38 games when losing the turnover battle (3-2), and broke the longest non-conference losing streak in NFL history at 20 games.

3. Third Time's The Charm - The Cowboys seemingly had three layups before their supposed showdown with the Eagles. They were shaky in all three. 

They led the Indianapolis Colts only 21-19 heading into the fourth quarter. They needed a 98-yard drive in the final minute to beat the Houston Texans. And on Sunday they wasted a 27-10 lead in Jacksonville. 

The Cowboys are a playoff team. But they are not a team playing its best football.

2. Twice As Nice - When Elliott scored on a first-quarter touchdown, he joined elite company. Only two Cowboys have scored a rushing touchdown in seven consecutive games: Elliott and a guy named Emmitt Smith.

1. Trap Game? - Maybe. But for sure a crap game. Up by 17 maybe the Cowboys began looking ahead six days to Philly. Whatever the case, they surrendered 223 passing yards a three touchdowns to Trevor Lawrence - in the second half. They allowed a season-high in points and yards. And they lost on a self-inflicted Pick Six in overtime. 

Bottom line: The Cowboys aren't good enough to look past anyone. And they really aren't good enough to be "stunned'' by their stumbles.

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Richie Whitt
RICHIE WHITT

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