Micah Parsons struggles to come up with an explanation for Cowboys' loss to Bengals and yet he said it all
When Dallas Cowboys cornerback Amani Oruwariye muffed the Cincinnati Bengals' blocked punt in a sequence that eventually cost the team the game, star defender Micah Parsons was visibly overcome with frustration on the bench. In the locker room postgame, Parsons was still at a loss of words."I'm hurt," Parsons said between long pauses. "Mhm… Man, I… […]
When Dallas Cowboys cornerback Amani Oruwariye muffed the Cincinnati Bengals' blocked punt in a sequence that eventually cost the team the game, star defender Micah Parsons was visibly overcome with frustration on the bench.
In the locker room postgame, Parsons was still at a loss of words.
"I'm hurt," Parsons said between long pauses. "Mhm… Man, I… I wouldn't wish this on anybody… Man, you can't put that into words, to be honest."
Once linebacker Nick Vigil put his hands on the Bengals' punt, it felt like game over. With kicker Brandon Aubrey waiting for a shot to ice the game on the sidelines with under two minutes to go, the Cowboys had didn't even need to get into field goal range. Thanks to Vigil, they were basically already there.
However, Oruwariye, who had just been activated off of Injured Reserve earlier in the day, muffed the catch. The Bengals recovered at their own 43-yard line and three plays later, they were in the endzone celebrating the game-winning touchdown.
"It was definitely a huge momentum shift, we just got a huge stop, we're running two minute drill," Parsons said about the blocked and muffed punt. "You'd think to believe you can pull the game out from that situation. That hurts."
When asked about whether or not he thought problems were "snowballing" on the 5-8 Cowboys, Parsons struggled to come up with an explanation for how things played out and yet still perfectly described the team's odd situation.
"Some of these situations, I don't know if I'd say snowballing but I don't know," Parsons said. "It seems like we're paying a due that's not fair."
That's quite the accurate way to put it. When it rains it pours and for the Cowboys, it's been a thunderstorm of a season. Even if the team was already not built well, they have caught no breaks and injuries have made any hope evaporate on a weekly basis. Even this loss was made even worse with DeMarvion Overshown's "serious" knee injury.
This game was the perfect example of "paying a due that's not fair," too: The Cowboys played a strong game offensively and defensively. They were in position to win it. Even on special teams, they had a difference maker in Vigil. And yet, everything had to come crumbling down one way or another.
"I don't know if it's bad luck, karma, but in terms of our work ethic, everyone was working so hard. I think we really did well, we could've done a little bit better containing, I think we gave them some points," Parsons added. "But you're telling me we held Joe Burrow to 20 points with two minutes left, the way our offense was moving the ball, I think we can win the game."
