Dez Bryant had the type of game on Sunday that the Cowboys had been waiting for all season. And then he went out and ruined it all with a couple of terrible plays at the end.
Bryant had a career-high 13 catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns. The 95 yards were the third-highest of his career, and he matched a career high by catching two touchdowns.
But in the end, those stats didn’t matter as much as one other: a drop on a two-point conversion attempt that would have tied the game at 31.
Bryant also made a boneheaded mental error at the end of the game. Dallas recovered an onside kick to give themselves another shot at winning the game. They got 20 yards on a pass interference penalty and were situated at the Ravens 34. With 26 seconds left, Dallas threw a short slant to Bryant toward the middle of the field. Bryant was taken back a few yards on the tackle from where he caught it, but he started arguing with the referee about where the ball should have been spotted. Instead of Dallas lining up to spike the ball or call timeout, Bryant spent 3-4 seconds yelling at the ref. Tony Romo couldn’t decide whether to run another play, spike the ball, or use the team’s final timeout. 20 seconds after their previous play, he finally decided to call timeout.
The Cowboys went 20 seconds between plays at a time when clock management was critical. They lost a chance to get a closer field goal attempt, and kicker Dan Bailey ended up missing a 51-yard attempt on the next play. They lost 31-29.
Once again, coach Jason Garrett makes a mistake at the end of the game. Dallas looked completely unorganized in the final 26 seconds, and it cost them the game.
