Despite the offense’s continued success, at this point the Dallas defense seemingly had no solutions for stopping the Panthers when they had the ball. As the clock ticked over into the fourth quarter, Dowdle continued to pound away at their forces, rushing five times for 37 yards. The scoring honors, though, would go to McMillan, who got his second touchdown to provide Carolina with another lead.
Who would blink first? The Cowboys nearly did, but on a third-and-5 at his own 35-yard line, Prescott again connected with Pickens, who spun away from the defense for a 45-yard gain. Dallas went on to get to the Panthers’ 8 but that would be it, and Aubrey had to come out for a 28-yard field goal to tie the game, 27-27.
When the Cowboys defense then finally – finally! – got a three-and-out stop, it seemed that would be the break the team needed. But unable to take advantage, the Dallas offense then had to punt for only the third time all game.
Meaning, the defense desperately needed another stop.
They couldn’t get it.
It looked like the Cowboys actually did when a Carolina pass on third-and-7 at its own 17-yard line fell incomplete, but a pass interference penalty on Kaiir Elam moved the chains and the possession continued. And later in the series, another Young attempt was no good on third-and-4 at the Dallas 40-yard line, but the Panthers converted the fourth down try to keep the drive alive as the clock hit the two-minute warning.
When Carolina then picked up a first down at the Dallas 12-yard line with 1:01 remaining, and the Cowboys out of timeouts, Young simply kneeled the ball twice to run the time down to three seconds. Ryan Fitzgerald then kicked the 33-yard field goal as the clock hit zeroes to capture the 30-27 win.