One of the more unusual NFL plays in a while happened Sunday in the Seattle Seahawks-Dallas Cowboys game. Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson found receiver D.K. Metcalf on a deep ball, and Metcalf looked to have a sure touchdown. But he seemed to ease up, and Cowboys’ defensive back Trevon Diggs caught him from behind and knocked the ball loose and through the end zone, creating a touchback and giving Dallas the ball.
Great hustle by #DallasCowboys rookie @TrevonDiggs 👏
The @dallascowboys get the ball back following the touchback.
📺: #DALvsSEA on FOX
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/9RobDGGsOD pic.twitter.com/VmY5N6A4Rl— NFL (@NFL) September 27, 2020
That’s a remarkable turn of events. And interestingly enough, one of the most famous previous plays it’s similar to also involved the Cowboys. That came in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XXVII in 1993, where Cowboys’ defensive lineman Leon Lett picked up a fumble from Buffalo Bills’ quarterback Frank Reich and looked set to take it 64 yards for a touchdown, but started to celebrate early and was caught from behind by Buffalo receiver Don Beebe, also leading to a touchback rather than a touchdown.
However, Lett’s miscue came with the Cowboys up by 35, and they won 52-17. So that didn’t wind up mattering much in the end. By contrast, Metcalf’s miscue Sunday came with the score tied at 9, so it could prove rather more important. Oh, and Lett is an assistant defensive line coach for the Cowboys these days, so he’s probably happy to see something like this work out for his team rather than against it.
[NFL on Twitter]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.