Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown’s knee injury looked bad, and everyone in the Cowboys’ locker room reacted as if it is bad after Monday’s 27-20 loss to the Bengals.
“He’s having an outstanding year, and we’ll see what what it brings,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “It’s concerning at this time, very concerning.”
As devastating as the loss to the Bengals was, the loss of their linebacker might be worse considering what he’s overcome. He missed his entire rookie season after tearing the ACL in his left knee in the 2023 preseason.
He injured his right knee Monday and will undergo an MRI to confirm what appears to be bad news.
Overshown posted that he “wouldn’t want this for anyone else! One of God’s Toughest Soldiers. Keep me in your prayers.”
Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons cried when asked about Overshown.
“He don’t deserve that either. He really don’t,” Parsons said. “I understand what he’s going to go through and to be there for me physically, mentally. It’s just so challenging. He’s so talented. The year he was having. I really just don’t think that’s fair.”
The Cowboys went 36-15 in Micah Parsons’ first three NFL seasons. They are 5-8 after an unfathomable 27-20 loss to the Bengals on Monday night.
“This one hurt me more than any loss this year, probably even worse than a playoff loss to be honest, because of where we were going, how we were playing, playing good football,” the All-Pro linebacker said. “I’m going to sit on this, but I have to find a way to keep these guys alive. There’s still football to be had. There’s still openings to be had. We have to take advantage of every opportunity the rest of the way. We can’t let these type of games slip away like we did today.”
On the first play after the two-minute warning in a tie game, Cowboys linebacker Nick Vigil blocked the punt of Ryan Rehkow. Cowboys special teams coordinator John Fassel frantically waved his hands and jumped up and down on the far sideline, imploring the Cowboys to leave the ball alone.
Cowboys cornerback Amani Oruwariye, who was activated from injured reserve Monday, didn’t get the message. He tried to pick up the ball and run with it and instead Maema Njongmeta recovered for the Bengals at the Cincinnati 43.
The Cowboys gave up a 40-yard touchdown reception to Ja’Marr Chase three plays later with 1:01 left.
ESPN cameras caught Parsons rocking back and forth on the bench after the touchdown, mouthing, “No! Oh, my God!” He put his head in his hands in disbelief.
Parsons was so distraught he left the field before the clock hit zero, and he had a hard time finding his words in the locker room afterward.
“Oh, I hurt,” Parsons said, pausing. “Um, um, um. I won’t wish this on anybody. You can’t even put that in words, bro, to be honest.”
Parsons said the defensive players had no idea what had happened when they were called to return to the field.
“I wasn’t even grasping what was going on. Nick made a great play,” Parsons said. “I asked the ref, ‘Explain what happened,’ and he told me we touched the ball. It was definitely a huge momentum shift. We just got a huge stop. We’re going in the two-minute drill. It’s just real hard. You’d like to think you can pull that game out from that situation. That hurts.”
The Cowboys have had no luck this season, and they now have little chance of reaching the postseason.
“I don’t want to say it’s snowballing, but I don’t know,” Parsons said. “It seems like we’re paying a due that’s not fair. I don’t know if it’s bad luck, karma, what.”
Replay assist is fine, as long as replay assist is used properly. In the fourth quarter on Monday night’s game in Dallas, it might not have been.
The Bengals faced second and 13 from their 46 with 7:32 to play. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow threw a short pass to receiver Andrei Iosivas. The ruling on the field was a catch and a fumble forced by Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs. Safety Donovan Wilson recovered the ball and returned it to the Cincinnati 28.
Within seconds, referee Scott Novak said this: “After reviewing the play, the pass was incomplete.”
The standard for overturning the ruling on the field via replay assist is identical to the standard for overturning a ruling via full-blown replay review: The visual evidence must be clear and obvious.
Here’s the play. Iosivas bobbles the ball before securing it with both hands and then tucking it away. The instant it’s tucked away, it’s knocked out.
By rule, a catch happens when the receiver: "(a) secures control of the ball in his hands or arms prior to the ball touching the ground; and (b) touches the ground inbounds with both feet or with any part of his body other than his hands; and (c) after (a) and (b) have been fulfilled, performs any act common to the game (e.g., tuck the ball away, extend it forward, take an additional step, turn upfield, or avoid or ward off an opponent), or he maintains control of the ball long enough to do so.” (Emphasis added.)
Iosivas, after the bobble, secured the ball with both hands. Both of his feet were down. He then tucked the ball away, just before it was knocked out.
It all happened fast, but it happened. It looked like a catch and a fumble.
Sure, ESPN rules analyst Russell Yurk said, “To me, he gets the ball and he does not get two feet down with control and then perform a football move before the ball comes out. To me, this is incomplete.” Yurk didn’t mention that tucking the ball is one of the specific football moves listed in the rule.
Possession, two feet down, ball tucked away, ball knocked out. There’s no minimum time requirement. It happens as quickly, or as slowly, as it takes to do (a), (b), and (c). It sure looks like Iosivas did all three.
Which takes us back to the standard for replay assist. The evidence must be clear and obvious. Unless and until the NFL implements a full-blown sky judge, where the person in the booth is an extension of the officials on the field who are making the rulings in real time, replay assist and replay review can’t change the ruling on the field without clear and obvious evidence that the ruling on the field was wrong.
Here, the evidence isn’t clear and obvious. The officials on the field necessarily ruled that Iosivas bobbled it, caught it, and then tucked the ball away before fumbling it.
It’s impossible to know what would have happened if the Cowboys had gotten possession at the Cincinnati 28 with 7:28 to play. But that would have been far different from what did happen — Bengals’ drive stalls, Cowboys get the ball on their 20 after a punt, they gain 14 yards and punt, and then the next Bengals’ punt becomes a Leon Lett-style blunder, extending the drive that resulted in the game-winning points.
For now, the point is this. It looked like Iosivas completed the catch before Diggs knocked the ball out. The visual evidence to the contrary was not clear and obvious.
Replay assist might have ultimately given the Bengals a huge assist in the effort to save their season.
The ghost of Leon Lett showed up at AT&T Stadium almost 31 years to the day after the Cowboys defensive lineman’s blunder on a blocked Dolphins field goal attempt in the waning seconds that cost Dallas the game.
On Monday night, Cowboys linebacker Nick Vigil blocked Ryan Rehkow’s punt on the play after the two-minute warning in a tie game. Cowboys cornerback Amani Oruwariye tried to pick up the ball and run with it and instead Maema Njongmeta recovered for the Bengals at the Cincinnati 43.
The Cowboys would have had the ball in field goal range for a Brandon Aubrey go-ahead kick. The Bengals instead got another chance and three plays later were in the end zone on a 40-yard catch-and-run by Ja’Marr Chase.
The Bengals escaped with a 27-20 victory, and both teams now are 5-8.
The Bengals got the ball back with 5:31 left and were moving after getting a 19-yard pass interference penalty on Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis, who was trying to cover Chase. But back-to-back holding penalties on wide receiver Andrei Iosivas and left guard Cody Ford left them with a second-and-26, and Cowboys linebacker Marist Liufau sacked Burrow for a 8-yard loss on third-and-19.
But Oruwariye’s miscue gave the Bengals another opportunity, and they capitalized.
The Bengals outgained the Cowboys 433 to 322, with Burrow going 33-of-44 for 369 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Chase caught 14 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns, and Chase Brown ran for 58 yards on 14 carries and caught six passes for 65 yards and a touchdown.
Cooper Rush was 16-of-31 for 183 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for the Cowboys, and Rico Dowdle ran for 131 yards on 18 carries. CeeDee Lamb caught six passes for 93 yards and a touchdown.
Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown was injured with 12:49 remaining in the fourth quarter.
He was injured on a 2-yard run by Chase Brown with Overshown’s right knee taking a direct hit from Bengals center Ted Karras. Teammates urgently signaled for athletic trainers and team doctors, and Overshown was helped to the X-ray room without the assistance of a cart.
He grabbed his right knee while he was on the ground and had trouble putting weight on that leg.
Overshown, a third-round pick in 2023, missed all of his rookie season with a torn ACL in his left knee.
The Cowboys quickly ruled him out with a knee injury.
He finished his night with six tackles and a pass defensed.
