Former Chargers RB Austin Ekeler suffers scary (and avoidable) injury vs. Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys-Washington Commanders matchup on Sunday went from being a snooze fest to one of the most chaotic games of the Week 12 slate. Unfortunately, in this chaos, former LA Chargers running back Austin Ekeler suffered a scary injury that resulted in him leaving the game.

Ekeler returned a kickoff down eight with fewer than 15 seconds on the clock looking to get the Commanders in field goal range. The former Chargers back took the ball all the way to Washington's 36-yard line before a tough tackle resulted in him hitting the ground hard.

Ekeler was initially unresponsive while the medical staff tended to him on the field. Thankfully, the former Chargers undrafted free agent stood up and was able to walk off the field under his own power.

Austin Ekeler's scary injury vs. Cowboys never should have happened

Injuries are the worst part about sports without a doubt and they are made even worse when they are avoidable. Ekeler's injury should have never happened vs. the Cowboys as he never should have been fielding that kick in the first place.

Washington scored a miracle touchdown with no timeouts late in the fourth quarter to seemingly tie the game against the Cowboys. However, Washington missed its second extra point of the game, allowing the Cowboys to escape their own nightmare with a one-point lead.

All Dallas had to do was field the onside kick, fall on the ground, and take one knee to head to the locker room. Instead, Juanyeh Thomas fielded the onside kick, saw nothing but green grass ahead of him, and took the kick all the way to the endzone for the touchdown.

This was obviously the wrong decision to make as it let the Commanders back in the game with just an eight-point deficit. If Thomas would have just slid then the game would have been over right then and there.

And if Thomas had just slid, Ekeler would have never returned that kick and suffered the scary injury.

Of course, this is not Thomas' fault. There was no way to predict that would happen to Ekeler and to insinuate that Thomas is at fault at all would be disgusting. However, the unfortunate reality is that his decision created a sliding doors moment, even unintentionally, that resulted in the former Chargers back getting hurt.

The entire Chargers fanbase should keep Ekeler in thier thoughts. Hopefully, Ekeler leaving the field under his own power ends up being a good omen.