Jourdan Lewis said what every Cowboys fan was thinking on KaVontae Turpin's TD
By Jerry Trotta
Has everyone got their lungs back? The closing minutes of the Dallas Cowboys' pulsating victory over the Washington Commanders were impossible to keep track of. The final 3:09 of regulation featured a whopping 33 points and somehow Dallas never relinquished its lead.
Cowboys fans undoubtedly started to sweat after Jayden Daniels led a nine-play 69-yard drive that culminated in a touchdown and two-point conversion to make the score 20-17. Up two scores, the Cowboys softened up their coverage and let Washington score too quick.
That's when KaVontae Turpin happened.
Turpin actually let the ensuing kickoff bounce between his legs. The ball rolled all the way to Dallas' one-yard line. Needing to improvise with Washington's gunner team closing in, Turpin was as cool as ever. He executed a video-game spin move that created a gaping running lane, turned on the jets and before you could blink he was celebrating in the end zone 99 yards later.
A number of teammates showered Turpin with praise after the win. Jourdan Lewis led that charge, but gave the star return specialist a back-handed compliment that all Cowboys fans can releate to.
Jourdan Lewis had perfect reaction to KaVontae Turpin's 99-yard kick return TD
Lewis hit the nail on the head.
It was incredibly audacious of Turpin to uncork a spin move at his own 10-yard line. There are maybe a handful of players in the NFL who can get away with that, and yet Turpin bamboozled six (!) Commanders special teams gunners with the crafty change of direction.
Seriously. If you pause the clip at the six-second mark, you'll notice that Turpin's spin wiped out a half dozen Washington players.
"Once I hit the spin move and I got through, I knew for sure it was a touchdown," Turpin said of the highlight-reel touchdown, via Tommy Yarrish of the team's official website.
A number of Cowboys maintained their blocks downfield and Turpin did the rest by clocking a top speed of 21.35 miles per hour, per Next Gen Stats. It was the third-fastest top speed on a kickoff return this season and he is now responsible for three of the 20 fastest speeds by a ball-carrier in 2024. Saquon Barkley is the only other player with three in the top 20.
Let's not lose sight of the fact that Turpin picked the ball up with one hand. His composure was on display before he hit the coldest spin move you will ever see. Again, it can't be overstated that Turpin took out more than half of a special teams unit with the twirl.
The 28-year-old has threatened all season to take a kickoff to the house. Now he knows all he has to do is botch the receiving part and start right up against his own end zone.