A special teams blunder was at the center of the Dallas Cowboys' 27-20 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football. With the game tied with two minutes remaining, the Cowboys blocked a punt in Bengals territory. However, the ball traveled past the line of scrimmage, after which Dallas cornerback Amani Oruwariye made a failed attempt to field it, leading to a Cincinnati recovery.
The game-changing mishap made Cowboys owner Jerry Jones question his team's decision to go for the block.
“We always say, well, why block the kick? Just take the kick and get within field goal [range] and kick it. We’ll all be second-guessing that one. After blocking the punt, we touched the ball. That all should be figured in before we decide to block the punt. Especially when you weigh your odds up against catching the ball on a kick and getting it back out and getting within a field goal range.”
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Jones' comments drew harsh criticism from former Indianapolis Colts head coach Jeff Saturday.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones blasted by Jeff Saturday over punt block comments
Dallas Cowboys linebacker Nick Vigil (41) blocks a punt by Cincinnati Bengals punter Ryan Rehkow (8) in the fourth quarter at AT&T Stadium.
Tim Heitman-Imagn Images
Saturday clowned the Cowboys owner for second-guessing the decision to go for a block, pointing out that all Dallas had to do was avoid the ball once it crossed the line of scrimmage.
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“You can’t be any more wrong. You can't say it any more incorrectly than what he’s saying right there,” Saturday said of Jones' comments on GetUp. “It’s a tie game, you don’t want a blocked punt? How many meetings have you ever been to on a special teams unit and they say, ‘Hey if you’ve got a block, just peel off.' Let's let the returner get it and see if he can return it. How many muffs do you have as opposed to a blocked punt? Jerry, stay off the mic bro, stay off the mic.”
Former NFL cornerback Domonique Foxworth also offered his opinion.
“The odds of you winning go up dramatically if you get a blocked punt. It's essentially a turnover and then shortening the field, especially when there's two minutes left. So the block is ok. I don't think we should talk about Jerry's comments because it's nonsense,” he said. “The first day of punt block install, this is what we discussed. If the ball goes past the line of scrimmage, you call fire, you get away from it. If it's on the other side of the line of scrimmage, knock yourself out. But once it goes past the line of scrimmage… you treat it just like a regular punt.”
The loss drops the Cowboys to 5-8, three games back of the Washington Commanders for the NFC's final Wild Card spot with four left to play. Dallas' playoff probability dropped to less than one percent following the defeat, according to NFL.com's Next Gen Stats.