DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys picked right back up where they left off last week by getting manhandled by the Baltimore Ravens 28-25 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score would lead to believe despite Dallas having their chances to pull off a comeback in the end.
Week 3 was a continuation of what happened the previous week in their loss to New Orleans, only the Cowboys managed to put up a late fight this time around. It was too little, too late for Dallas as they lost a second consecutive game with each loss coming at home.
Lackluster start
The Cowboys dug themselves a hole too big to ultimately climb out of by getting gashed in the running game on defense and failing to put up enough big plays on offense when the game was still in question.
All week the Cowboys spoke of a plan to play better, more disciplined defense within defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer’s scheme, but that went out the window quickly. The Ravens scored rushing touchdowns on each of their first two possessions, meeting little resistance on either series. The Cowboys took the ball after winning the coin toss to gain some momentum, but it never materialized.
The offense stalled and had to punt to the Ravens, who promptly went 71 yards in five plays for the opening touchdown. It took only 2:27 for Baltimore to prove that last week’s poor defensive showing was not a fluke and the Dallas front was again unable to stop the run. Four of the five plays in the opening drive were runs, and quarterback Lamar Jackson finished it off with a nine-yard touchdown run.
On the next possession, running back Derrick Henry capped a 70-yard drive with a rushing score. The Ravens faced only one third down in their first two offensive series’ and came away with 14 quick points.
Whatever the Cowboys worked on all week to prevent the opposing run game from flourishing didn’t work. It’s back to the drawing board for a defense that lacks physicality, and the league knows it.
Leaving points on the field
Mike McCarthy’s offense, meanwhile, tried to get the team back into the game, but all momentum was lost when wide receiver CeeDee Lamb fumbled deep in Ravens territory with the Cowboys down 14-3. Those lost points wound up being costly by the end of the contest.
The Ravens put seven more points on the scoreboard on an eight-play, 86-yard drive that never saw them face a third down and included five straight plays that resulted in a first down. Jackson hit a wide-open Rashod Bateman in the end zone for the 13-yard touchdown that extended the Baltimore lead to 21-3.
To open the second half, the Ravens went on another 70-yard touchdown drive in just five plays. All five plays were runs and Henry got his second score of the day by going 26-yards for the touchdown. Henry had a monster game, rushing for 151 yards, two scores and averaged six yards per carry.
The ground game display all came against a team that needed an RB this offseason, but also one that never bothered to even call the five-time thousand yard rusher. Henry even admitted that he was hoping to play in Dallas, so he was looking forward to sticking it to the Cowboys.
Jerry Jones, who said this week that he thought the RB issues with his team were overblown by the media, got a firsthand look at what a good running back can do for a team. McCarthy’s offense wants to be physical in the running game but Dallas doesn’t have a runner in the same class as Henry and it showed on Sunday.
Too little, too late
Down 28-6 in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys decided to wake up and attempted to make a comeback. The bid fell short, but the offense seemed to find a rhythm with Dak Prescott playing up tempo. Some of the success came because the Ravens had softened on defense with such a big lead, but Prescott looked more comfortable late in this game than he has all year.
McCarthy would be wise to learn a lesson from how the offense looked when playing with urgency and try to push the pace in the upcoming weeks to get his offense on track.
Prescott finished with 379 yards passing and three total touchdowns, but it wasn’t enough. With three quarters of ugly football on both sides of the ball, the Cowboys doomed themselves to a 1-2 record.
There doesn’t appear to be an answer for the Dallas defense right now. It’s hard to win in the NFL if you’re getting blown off the ball defensively and that is exactly what has happened two weeks in a row where the Cowboys got pushed around. The Ravens ran for 274 yards and the Cowboys couldn’t get near Jackson after he had been under pressure in each of his first two weeks.
The offensive line for the Cowboys also wasn’t good enough, Prescott was sacked three times and was under duress for much of the game. It’s a unit that’s been remade with two rookie starters, and left tackle Tyler Guyton is getting beaten way too much for a first-round pick even after his stock had risen during the preseason.
Not much went right for the Cowboys in the Week 3 loss, despite the eventual close score. The defense didn’t improve off a disastrous performance the week before and looked worse while getting hammered in the trenches.
The offense managed to put up some points, but they didn’t look functional until late in the game when Baltimore was confident that the game was over. Ultimately, it appears that Dallas doesn’t have enough speed or playmakers on offense, and it showed against the Ravens.
The final score might show that this was a close contest, but the Ravens bullied the Cowboys for much of the game. It was a good sign that McCarthy’s group fought back at least, but these Cowboys lack a positive identity on both sides of the ball.
Do you think the Cowboys will be able to put consecutive home losses behind them? Share your thoughts with Ben on X (formerly Twitter) @BenGrimaldi.
