The Dallas Cowboys had the Arizona Cardinals right where they wanted them, and for a moment, it looked like they would finally give their fans something to celebrate. Instead, another late-game breakdown turned a comfortable lead into a loss that was difficult to explain.

For Michael Irvin, watching his former team throw away that opportunity brought back a kind of frustration he had not seen before. The Hall of Famer opened up about the defeat and why he considers it a “new low” for Dallas.

Michael Irvin Calls Cowboys’ Cardinals Loss a ‘New Low’ After Historic Collapse

Appearing on “Green Light with Chris Long”, Irvin struggled to hide his frustration over Dallas’ 33-30 overtime loss to Arizona. The Cowboys had led by 14 points in the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals rallied to win at AT&T Stadium.

“That Arizona game, dude, I could have had back-to-back apexes. And I was this close. I told them, this is the first time seeing the Cowboys fans. For the fan base, this was a new pain,” Irvin said.

“Sunday morning, I was divorcing the Cowboys, but Sunday night I was back in the altar saying I do,” he added.

He then described how Dallas managed to lose a game that appeared firmly within its control.

“Like, this was what I call snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. That’s what they did. And I was like, man, how can you do this? And they had never done that 202 times. That’s what they were saying.”

“And leading by 14, they’ve never let a team come back. So, this was a new low, man. I was so mad about that, man. But this is the NFL. You’re right back in it,” he added.

The historical record made the defeat even harder to accept. Before Arizona’s comeback, Dallas was 202-0-1 in franchise history when holding a home lead of at least 14 points in the fourth quarter. The Cowboys had also won all 69 such games since 2000.

Arizona’s comeback gathered pace after Gardner Minshew replaced Jacoby Brissett. Running back Tyler Allgeier added 147 rushing yards and a touchdown, putting pressure on a Dallas defense that could not close out the game.

Dallas still led 27-17 with 3:54 remaining, but Minshew answered with a touchdown pass to Trey McBride. After Brandon Aubrey’s field goal restored a 30-24 advantage with 1:05 left, Minshew drove Arizona 80 yards in eight plays and found Michael Wilson for a 13-yard touchdown with six seconds remaining.

Chad Ryland missed the extra point, giving the Cowboys another chance in overtime. However, Dallas, which is ranked fourth among the top offensive teams on PFN NFL Offense Impact Score%20assigns,red%20zone%20and%20third%20downs.) with a grade of 84.5.

Dallas went three-and-out for minus-5 yards on its overtime possession before punting. Arizona then moved 44 yards, allowing Ryland to make a 42-yard field goal and complete the comeback.

The loss dropped Dallas to 3-5 and matched the biggest blown fourth-quarter lead in franchise history.