The Dallas Cowboys kept their playoff hopes alive by the slimmest of margins with a slender 20-17 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday night.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott converted a fourth-down sneak by the narrowest of margins to set up Dan Bailey's go-ahead 19-yard field goal, before Raiders QB Derek Carr then fumbled the ball inches from the goal line with 31 seconds left.
The first key play came when Cowboys coach Jason Garrett decided to go for it on fourth-and-one from the Dallas 39-yard line with about five minutes left in a tied game.
Referee Gene Steratore then called for the chains to come out, but even that was not enough to determine the measurement. He then tried to slide what appeared to be an index card between the tip of the ball and the end of the chain. When the card did not slide through, Steratore gave Dallas a key first down.
Prescott then hit Dez Bryant with a 40-yard pass that set up Bailey's short kick with under two minutes to play. But, the game was far from over.
The Raiders got a gift when Jourdan Lewis committed a 43-yard pass interference penalty on a fourth-and-10 from their own 30-yard line. Carr then scrambled on third-and-three down near the goal line, reached out for the end zone but the ball came loose and went out of the endzone for a touchback.
The defeat leaves the Raiders (6-8) tied for ninth in the AFC and now all but out of the playoffs, while Dallas (8-6) are in a three-way tie for seventh spot in the NFC, a half-game behind the Atlanta Falcons for the final playoff position.
The Cowboys earned their third-straight win without suspended star running back Ezekiel Elliott, who comes back from a six-game suspension next week, for their game against playoff rivals, the Seattle Seahawks.