The Cowboys pulled out lots of trick plays in their 23-9 loss to the Eagles on “Sunday Night Football,” but the weirdest sequence of plays came late in the fourth quarter and were a perfect representation of the NFC East this season.
Down by 12 points with the ball and facing a fourth-and-17 at its 16, Dallas (2-6) elected to take a delay of game penalty and then snap the ball out the back of the end zone while in punt formation, resulting in a safety. That made the score 23-9, Eagles — still a two-possession game — with 3:55 to play and gave the Cowboys a chance to recover an onside free kick from their 20.
MORE: Scoring updates, highlights from Cowboys-Eagles
Then it got even weirder. Kicker Greg Zuerlein, who was the lone offense for Dallas on the night with three field goals, lofted a shallow punt, leading to a huge dogpile. Philadelphia (3-4-1) came out with the ball, but it was still a pretty clever idea and nearly paid off.
Fans loved it. Who wouldn’t want to see more onside punts?
If someone was watching football for the first time tonight, they might understand this game more than I do.
— JJ Zachariason (@LateRoundQB) November 2, 2020
Cowboys, Sept. 1: super bowl bound
Cowboys, Nov. 1: attempting an onside safety punt against the 2-4-1 Eagles
— Nick Whalen (@wha1en) November 2, 2020
Tired: punt on 4th & 22 from ur own end zone
Wired: go for it
Inspired: intentional safety + onside punt
— liam (@lgibstr) November 2, 2020
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