Many weeks in such an unpredictable league as the NFL, the football world witnesses something so historically improbable that it is difficult to believe. There were two such occurrences in Week 8, with the Dallas Cowboys enduring as miserable a fourth-quarter and overtime sequence as any in the last 25 years of franchise history and Joe Burrow delivering a stat line that no other quarterback has posted since the merger. The highs of Burrow's career day and the lows of the Cowboys' blown lead exemplified everything that makes the NFL such a successful entertainment product.
What more could fans seek than late-game drama and excellence from the greatest football players in the world? Of course, there are two sides to every outcome. The Arizona Cardinals celebrated at the Cowboys' expense.
The Tennessee Titans were left bewildered by the quarterbacking they witnessed from their opponent. Here are the biggest winners and losers from Week 8 in the NFL. Brian Schottenheimer left his offense on the field on fourth-and-1 from his own 32-yard line in the first quarter, and the Cowboys turned the ball over on downs.
That was the first sign that Sunday was not going to be their day. Coaching and offense failed them in that moment, and the defense failed them the rest of the afternoon in surrendering 33 points to the Cardinals in a stunning three-point overtime loss. The same defense that has not held a single opponent under 20 points all year, that is.
At home against a Cardinals team that might finish the year at the bottom of the NFC West, the Cowboys blew a 10-point lead with 3:54 to play in regulation and gave up a game-ending field goal in overtime. They were fortunate to even get to the extra period, because it took an Arizona missed extra point with six seconds remaining for regulation to end level at 30-30. Arizona is now 5-0 all-time at AT&T Stadium.
This loss for the Cowboys stings as much as any of the previous four. The most painful part might be that the 30 points they allowed in the second half and overtime came with backup quarterback Gardner Minshew on the field for Arizona. Or maybe it is the unfathomable splits in two-score games, where since 2000, the Cardinals were 1-174-1 when trailing by 14 or more points in the fourth quarter and the Cowboys were 69-0 at home when leading by 14 or more in the fourth (according to ESPN Insights).
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