Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne sideline scuffle sums up humiliating night vs Cowboys

The Washington Football Team was always going to need a miracle Sunday night to beat the heavily-favored Dallas Cowboys.

What we didn’t expect, though, was Ron Rivera’s normally-competitive group to lay down after getting punched in the mouth early on.

The moment Taylor Heinicke’s first pass of the night — a deep shot along the sidelines to Terry McLaurin that was highly inaccurate — got intercepted, you kind of got the feeling this was going to be a long game for Washington.

Shortly thereafter, Dallas rattled off a 21-0 scoring run in the span of just over five minutes of game time by the end of the first quarter.

You know what we said about Washington getting knocked in the mouth? Well, that metaphor came to life in the second quarter when sideline cameras showed Jonathan Allen taking a swing at Daron Payne on the bench.

Washington Football Team stars Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne were seen fighting on the sidelines Sunday night.

It’s been a disaster of a night for Washington, but nothing encapsulated it better than this embarrassing altercation from Allen and Payne, two pillars in the locker room and de facto leaders of the defense.

Again, no one knows what instigated the fight, but Allen, who was greatly frustrated after Washington’s loss to Philly on Tuesday, clearly took offense with Payne shoving his fingers into his head, seemingly lecturing him.

Allen dismissed Payne’s finger, then proceeded to throw a right hook. Luckily, nearby teammates and defensive line coach Sam Mills III deescalated the situation and separated the teammates before any further punches were thrown.

But that wasn’t all. After the players were separated, the NBC broadcast appeared to catch Payne spewing profanities at Allen. The language was seemingly to vulgar to quote, so we’ll just leave the rest to Twitter.

Well, that’s not good.

We get the frustration in realizing your season is slipping away. Throw in the fact that this is the second game in a row Washington’s defense has been steamrolled, and it’s easy to understand why tempers boiled over.

This, on the other hand, is unacceptable.

It’d be one thing if Allen and Payne were jawing back and forth and they had to be separated. But for the two defensive line to get into a fight in the middle of a nationally-televised game? That’s another black eye on a franchise that has repeatedly made a mockery of itself off the field.

Allen and Payne go all the way back to Alabama, where they were college teammates under Nick saban, so they have a long history. Maybe if this skirmish involved a player whom Allen is in his first or second year playing with maybe the former first-round pick doesn’t react as violently as he did.

Coming out of halftime, Michelle Tafoya reported that Allen and Payne were just frustrated with the game script thus far. It sure looked like more was going on, but we’ll wait for the players to address it after the game.

For now, though, Washington fans have every right to be peeved. As if watching their team get embarrassed on a national stage wasn’t punishment enough, two of the franchise’s most recognizable players are ready to knock each other out on the sidelines amidst the chaos.

Please, just get this second half over with as quick as possible.