After a terrible Saturday on which they learned that one of their teammates was dead and another was in jail charged with his death, the Cowboys managed to win a tough, hard-fought football game in Cincinnati Sunday.
In a game overshadowed by the death of Cowboys linebacker Jerry Brown and the intoxication manslaughter charges faced by Cowboys defensive tackle Josh Brent, Dallas banded together to win 20-19.
Although the Bengals led most of the way, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo hit Dez Bryant on a 27-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to bring the Cowboys to within a 19-17 deficit, and then the Cowboys got the ball back and drove into field goal range for a Dan Bailey 40-yard game-winner as time expired. The final was Cowboys 20, Bengals 19.
The win is a big one for the Cowboys, who improve to 7-6 and stay within striking distance of both the NFC East title and the final NFC wild card berth. And the loss is a big one for the Bengals, who had a golden opportunity to move a game ahead of the Steelers in the AFC wild card race, but instead fall to 7-6 and stay tied with the Steelers.
But mostly this win will be remembered like the Chiefs’ win a week ago: One in which a team managed to put aside a tragic incident for a few hours, and win a football game.