When I got back at about 7:30 it was 23-17. There were about 3' left. I had plenty of time between stoppages of play and six times out to review the stats and finish eating. At 8:08 the game finally ended. In between bites and stoppages I thought of a new beginning: "Offensively offensive, the [fill in winning team here] were a little bit less so in an interminable [fill in score here] win in Dallas", but was no longer interested in the game or the post. I did see the weird way ESPN play-by-play ended the game, 17 yard gain by Prescott to SF [whatever yard line]. Game over. Wasn't interested enough to find out. As a connoisseur of schadenfreude however I remembered that Texas sportswriters are well-stocked with delicious, vintage Whoop Ass and googled "dallas cowboys" a few minutes before 10 pm. I am glad that I did. First was not a Dallas pencil but an NFL analyst, Dan Orlovsky:
That was yummy. But I did want to sample some Texas Tea:
It started in the first quarter after the Cowboys fell behind 10-0 McCarthy and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore opened their 88 oz. bottle of Stupid on the sidelines.
…
Now I ask you? Is that not awesome. Dear God, I loved that.
Dak had a shot to set up one, maybe two, throws into the end zone for the win.
Instead, they called a draw play which ended with Dak reaching the 24-yard-line, and the clock running out before he could spike the ball.
McCarthy said he was told the refs would put time back on the clock, but that didn’t happen.
There was never enough time to run a play like that. The margin was so thin no explanation can justify that call.
Which is Orlovsky's take too. It was an indictably stupid play call with :14 secs left.