As badly as the Washington Commanders played on Sunday, they still had multiple chances to win late against the Dallas Cowboys. However, various mistakes added up and proved too much for the Commanders, who fell 34-26 to the Cowboys at home.
One of those chances came with around three minutes remaining when kicker Austin Seibert’s line drive kickoff hit Dallas wide receiver KaVontae Turpin’s hands around the four-yard line, which he muffed, picked up and ran back 99 yards for the touchdown to extend the Cowboys lead to 27-17 with 2:49 remaining.
This was just seconds after Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels engineered a quick touchdown drive to again make it a one-score game. With two timeouts and the two-minute warning remaining, the Commanders were in an excellent position to win an ugly game after such a terrible performance.
Turpin had other plans. But even after Turpin’s touchdown, Daniels and Terry McLaurin still had some magic left, but it didn’t matter, as the Cowboys prevailed.
As for Turpin, Washington safety — and former Pro Bowler on special teams — Jeremy Reaves blamed himself for Turpin’s score. It was Reaves who missed the initial tackle.
“I made that play 1,000 times,” a dejected Reaves said at his locker after Sunday’s game. “Thousand times, hundreds of times, it’s repetition. I didn’t make it today, and it cost us. It’s on me, man.
Jeremy Reaves got emotional in the locker room and blamed himself: pic.twitter.com/Uk3KJobceS
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) November 24, 2024
Reaves is right in one sense. He has made that play many times over the years, and not making it on Sunday was costly. However, Reaves is not to blame for the loss — far from it.
You win as a team, you lose a team. Reaves is one of the more selfless and beloved players in the locker room. He’s doing what leaders do: Taking accountability. That play was one of many that added up for the Commanders on Sunday, creating a perfect storm for the heavy underdog to come away with an upset win.
