Talk about tough ways to lose for the Commanders.
Washington managed to score a late fourth-quarter touchdown with less than a minute on the clock to pull within one point of the Cowboys.
But Austin Seibert shanked the extra point after a bad snap and rushed hold. Dallas returned an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown to cap a crushing 34-26 loss for Washington at Northwest Stadium on Sunday.
Commanders’ quarterback Jayden Daniels connected with wide receiver Terry McLaurin for an 86-yard touchdown pass with 21 seconds left on the clock, setting up Seibert with what should have been an easy extra point kick.
Instead, a low snap was a precursor for the shanked kick that went wide left leaving the Commanders still trailing 27-26.
Washington attempted the onside kick and it bounced right to Juanyeh Thomas, who took the ball right through a hole in the Commanders’ line for the 43-yard return to the end zone.
The touchdown all but ended the Commanders’ hopes of staging another comeback attempt.
The Cowboys’ win snapped a five-game losing streak and stunned plenty of prognosticators who had expected the Commanders, who have been chasing the NFC East lead, to come away with their eighth win of the year.
The game had already been a bit of a bizarre afternoon for the Cowboys and Commanders, who had scored a combined 19 points through the first three-quarters of the game.
Seibert had a forgettable day trying to kick, as he missed a field goal attempt earlier and missed on two extra point attempts.
The missed extra point at the end drew plenty of reactions, including from former NFL star Shannon Sharpe.
“You’ve got 2 be f-king kidding me. Commanders kicker f-king shanked a PAT,” he wrote on X.
To make matters worse, Austin Ekeler was injured on a kick return in the game’s final seconds after taking a monster hit. We eventually was able to get up and walk off the field.