Cowboys Coordinator May Be Dallas' First Firing of Season After Week 12 Miscues

After getting shellacked by the Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Texans at home, the Dallas Cowboys went on the road and defeated the Washington Commanders, 34-26 on Sunday, snapping their five-game losing streak.

It was a much-needed win for the Cowboys, who have looked like a shell of themselves over the last few weeks.

However, it wasn’t all positive for the Cowboys to start, as the special teams unit was less than stellar in Sunday’s divisional matchup. Dallas Pro Bowl kicker Brandon Aubrey had his first goal blocked from 35 yards out in the first quarter, which set up a scoring drive for the Commanders.

And then if things couldn’t get worse for Aubrey and the special teams unit, he missed a 44-yard field goal with 3:42 left in the first quarter. 

This wasn’t encouraging for Cowboys special teams coordinator John Fassel, given the other miscues with the unit. Fassel has not been a fan-favorite as he’s had an affinity with going for fake punts.

In the Cowboys’ Week 11 loss to the Houston Texans, Dallas dialed up a fake punt in the first quarter to try and catch Houston off guard. However, the Texans weren’t fooled as Cowboys punter Bryan Anger couldn’t complete a pass for 10 yards on fourth and nine.

The other time Dallas went for a fake punt was in Week 9 against the Atlanta Falcons. But as expected, it failed as Anger was almost intercepted. It was a puzzling play call from Dallas given they were only down four points in the third quarter.

Between those two fake punts and Aubrey’s struggles in the first half against the Commanders, you could feel the angst among Cowboys fans.

However, Fassel's unit came up huge in the second half as Aubrey made a 48-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, extending the Cowboys lead to 13-9.

Then later in the final quarter, Dallas star return specialist KaVontae Turpin had an improbable 99-yard kickoff return touchdown, extending the lead to 27-17. Cowboys fans thought the game was over at that point, but the defense gave up a Terry McLaurin 69-yard touchdown catch.

Luckily for Dallas, Commanders kicker Austin Seibert missed the game-tying extra point. With the Commanders setting up for onside kick, all the Cowboys needed to do was recover it and that would end the game.

But for some reason, Juanyeh Thomas recovered the kick and returned it for a touchdown, which had Fassel and head coach Mike McCarthy both puzzled.

Thankfully, Thomas' decision didn't hurt Dallas, but it's a bad look on Fassel as his unit has struggled to do the little things.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been hesitant to change the coaching staff. But after these last few showings by the special teams unit, Fassel might be the first to go.

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