Reliving all 9 of the Cowboys defensive/special teams touchdowns from the 2021 season

The Dallas Cowboys didn’t win a playoff game last season. That is a very tough pill to swallow made even more difficult when you consider that never in our existence have we watched a Cowboys football team score more touchdowns during the regular season. In all, the team scored 64 total touchdowns in 2021. That’s a lot! You’d have to go all the way back to the 2014 season to see them even eclipse the 50 touchdown mark. Make no mistake about it, we got to witness a lot of scoring by the Cowboys last season.

Here is a year-by-year breakdown of the team’s total touchdown tally over the past 10 years.

Oh sure, we did get that bonus 17th regular-season game to help pad the numbers, but even without it, the Cowboys were scoring fools. They scored a total of 530 points, which was not only more than any other NFL team this past season, but that equated to over 31 points a game which is more than this team has averaged in any year over its storied 62-year existence. That’s amazing.

The Cowboys got help from a lot of different people. Collectively, 22 different players found the endzone this past season. That is the same amount of players who have scored over the previous two seasons combined. Check out the year-by-year data for the number of different players to score over the last 10 years and look at how 2022 dwarfs the previous years.

The Cowboys had players coming out of the woodwork scoring touchdowns. Five different running backs scored touchdowns and 11 different players caught a touchdown, including 310-pound tackle Terence Steele.

But the real boost from the Cowboys' touchdown totals comes from the team’s defense and special teams. Five times the team indulged in a pick-six. Two of those came courtesy of All-Pro cornerback Trevon Diggs and two of them came from a defensive lineman. Twice the team blocked a punt and recovered it in the endzone. They also had a sack/strip fumble recovery that was taken to the house. They even had their first kickoff returned for a touchdown since Pro Bowler Dwayne Harris did it back in 2015. The Cowboys had nine total defensive/special teams touchdowns which equals what they had in the previous six seasons combined!

It’s really astonishing to think about all this bonus scoring the team got last year and we may never witness such a feat again in our lifetime, so today we’re going to take a moment to savor those moments with a trip down memory lane.

Here are all nine of the Cowboys' defense/special teams' scores from the 2021 season.

WEEK 3 - Trevon Diggs pick-six against the Eagles

The Cowboys dominated the Eagles in the first half of their first meeting, but thanks to a Dallas fumble in their own end zone and a failed goal-line attempt, the Eagles were hanging around. It looked as if the Eagles were driving to get themselves back in it until Diggs stepped in the way and ended those plans.

WEEK 5 - Anthony Brown pick-six against the Giants

The Cowboys beat the Giants comfortably in both games last season and it was the icing on the cake when Brown jumped the route and gave the Cowboys two straight 40-burgers against their NFC East foes.

WEEK 6 - Trevon Diggs pick-six against the Patriots

Diggs finished the year will an incredible 11 interceptions with two of them going for scores. His second one came at an opportune time as a Patriots' first down could’ve helped New England run out the clock late in the fourth quarter.

WEEK 10 - Dorance Armstrong blocks a punt against the Falcons

The Cowboys blocked three punts last year (it would have been four had Malik Turner’s deflected punt not traveled past the line of scrimmage against the Broncos). The amount of discipline and body contortion displayed by Armstrong on this play was simply brilliant as he helped the Cowboys cap off a 28-point second quarter against the Falcons.

WEEK 12 - Tony Pollard kickoff return against the Raiders

It was only a matter of time before Pollard was off to the races on a kickoff return, and that finally happened against the Raiders. While the Cowboys ultimately came up short in this shootout, this return helped put them right back in the thick of things in this Thanksgiving matchup

WEEK 13 - Carlos Watkins pick-six against the Saints

You’d have to go all the way back to 2006 (DeMarcus Ware against Michael Vick) to see the last time a Cowboys defensive lineman had a pick-six, that is until Watkins snared this Taysom Hill pass out of thin air.

WEEK 14 - Dorance Armstrong fumble return against Washington

Washington obliged with not one, not two, but three different turnovers that resulted in touchdowns for the Cowboys. Micah Parsons sack/strip wound up in the hands of Armstrong who had a convoy of blue escorting him to the end zone.

WEEK 16 - DeMarcus Lawrence pick-six against Washington

Cowboys fans may have had to wait 16 years between seeing a defensive linemen pick-six, but they only had to wait three weeks to see another one. Similar to Watkins, Tank’s quick reflexes allow him to pluck this pass from a short distance, but it was his magical elusive running ability that makes this touchdown so special.

WEEK 17 - Corey Clement blocks a punt against Washington

The Cowboys completed the hat-trick for defensive/special teams’ scores against Washington and in doing so they also completed the hat-trick for blowout wins against each of their NFC East divisional rivals, putting up 56 points against the team formerly known as the Football Team. Clement gets just enough on this punt attempt to give Chauncey Golston the easiest touchdown he’ll ever see.