Dallas Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis stood up for teammate Amani Oruwariye after the latter made a special teams gaffe that prevented the Cowboys from having a chance to take a late lead during Monday night's 27-20 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

With two minutes remaining in the game, Cowboys linebacker Nick Vigil deflected a punt, but rather than allowing the ball to come to rest in Cincinnati territory, Oruwariye attempted to recover it. However, the ball bounced off Oruwariye and the Bengals recovered, giving them a fresh set of downs:

The Bengals made good on their new lease on life, as quarterback Joe Burrow threw a go-ahead, 40-yard touchdown pass to Ja'Marr Chase with 1:01 remaining, which turned out to be the game-winner:

According to ESPN's Todd Archer, Lewis made it clear that he wasn't putting the blame for the loss of Oruwariye's shoulders, saying: "We can't judge him. None of us played a perfect game. You can't judge anybody by one decision. He thought he can make a play. Can't judge him for that."

To Lewis' point, the Cowboys had their chances, but ultimately didn't play well enough on defense.

Burrow torched them for 369 yards and three touchdowns through the air, and the Dallas secondary had no answer for chase, who caught 14 passes for 177 yards and two scores, including the game-winner.

That has been a common theme for the Cowboys this season, as they rank 25th in the NFL in total defense and 31st in scoring defense.

The loss dropped Dallas to 5-8 on the season, which likely means another loss will knock the Cowboys out of playoff contention.

Oruwariye's miscue, followed by Chase's touchdown, spoiled some solid offensive performances by the Cowboys, including wide receiver CeeDee Lamb's six receptions for 93 yards and a touchdown, and running back Rico Dowdle's 131 yards on the ground.

Quarterback Cooper Rush, who has been starting since Dak Prescott went down with a season-ending injury, had an admirable showing as well, going 16-of-31 for 183 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

For the Bengals, Monday's game was essentially a must-win situation since they entered with eight losses on the season.

A loss to Dallas would have guaranteed Cincinnati a losing season, which almost certainly would not have been good enough for a playoff spot in the AFC.

The Bengals still face an uphill climb at 5-8, but Burrow, Chase, running back Chase Brown and their explosive offense came through when they needed it most.

Cincinnati also finally got the type of big break it has needed all year with a blocked punt turning into a new set of downs, and ultimately a touchdown.

After a five-game losing streak and Prescott's injury, the Cowboys were seemingly on the brink of collapse, but a two-game winning streak gave them renewed hope.

Stretching the winning streak to three would have been huge, especially when considering that Dallas has a winnable game against the Carolina Panthers next week.

Instead, the heartbreaking loss puts Dallas in must-win mode for the remainder of the season, as the team will likely have to run the table against the Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders.