The Dallas Cowboys give us happy moments, but they also give us frustrating moments, and it’s rare that they give us so many of those within the same game. Their performance against the Baltimore Ravens was a little bit schizophrenic as they went from an offensive juggernaut to an offense scared of its own shadow.
And trying to describe the defense is even harder. Some moments are pure adrenaline and filled with enormous excitement, while others are a straight-up disaster. This game was particularly
difficult as it started great, the middle stuff was gut-wrenching, but then they made a run that had the sweet taste of an international victory right at their fingertips.
Of course, we all know how it ended, and it has brought us back to the realization that we don’t really know what to think about this football team. Are they good? Are they bad? Are they average? Can they just pick something and stick with it so we aren’t put through this emotional rollercoaster?
The tease started with the offense. They looked absolutely sensational at times. Dak Prescott had little difficulty finding CeeDee Lamb or George Pickens over the middle, and all the tight ends were helping out with nice gains. What an incredible throw from Prescott to Lamb on that bomb that completely flipped the field after that amazing goal-line stand. The running game looked revitalized, and they ran some clever plays to get people into space. They were superb. Mostly.
That is what makes the bad stuff seem even harder to stomach. And it was most prevalent on the team’s first and last offensive possession of the game.
Their first possession started great. They just flew down the field with ease against the Ravens’ defense. The best part was that the drive showcased the resurgent rushing attack, as Javonte Williams couldn’t be stopped. On the drive, Williams ran the ball six times for 44 yards, with one effective run after another. The Ravens’ defense had no answer, so why did the Cowboys decide to start passing the ball when they had second and goal at the one-yard line? It made no sense, and they ultimately settled for a field goal when their plan of throwing it in didn’t work.
That early drive letdown would have been a distant memory if they could have punched it in on their last possession. Let’s set the table for that disastrous sequence of events. The Ravens just scored a touchdown to go up 31-28 with 90 seconds left in the game. The mood was complete nervousness. Did the Cowboys have one more drive left in them? The answer turned out to be yes. Kind of.
The offense wasted no time. There was a quick 13-yard gain to Ryan Flournoy that took six seconds. That’s a good start. Two plays later, a quick pass went to Lamb, who zig-zagged 14 yards inside the Ravens 40. They were already in Brandon Aubrey range, and there was still 1:14 left with one timeout in their pocket. Another completion went to Flournoy. Now, they were inside the 30 with still over a minute left. Dak faked a pass, kept it, and churned out a good run near the 20, but now there were under 30 seconds left. Things were getting a little dicey again.
Then came a gift from the officials. Maybe it was payback for that phantom pass interference called on DaRon Bland earlier in the game. Regardless, Lamb got arm-tied with Ravens’ cornerback Nate Wiggins, and Wiggins got the blame. The result was 1st-and-goal at the two with 23 seconds left. And they still had that timeout. The Cowboys had this in the bag. So we thought.
What happened next is hard to describe. They ran a fade to Pickens. No dice. Then, Luke Schoonmaker got antsy and moved early, causing them to be backed up five yards for a false start. On the next play, Dak eluded pressure and took off, but only for a short gain. One last chance. On third down, they tried another fade to Pickens, only this time Prescott airmailed so high that no catch radius could have hauled that pass in. He didn’t even give him a chance. What was that about?
The Cowboys’ immensely talented offense opted to wave the white flag and play for overtime when their defense had been abused and completely decimated with injuries. This supposed greatest offense there is turned into the most scared, hesitant offense there is. GOTI had become SHOTI.
Of course, they never made it to overtime because of what happened next, but before we get to that, let’s talk about some of the great stuff the defense did, because they deserve some credit. Those short-yardage stops were incredible. Anytime it feels like we might be overhyping rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham a smidge, he shoots through and smashes any notion that you could oversell his value to this defense. What an incredible player.
The Cowboys showed up not once, not twice, but three times on short-yardage plays to make stops. The fourth-down stop early in the game was amazing. Otito Ogbannia and Jonathan Bullard stonewalled the Ravens offensive line, causing Derrick Henry to run right into their backs. With nowhere to go, he tried to slide left, but Donovan Ezeiruaku and Caleb Downs were right there to ensure that didn’t happen. On the goal line stand, both Ezeiruaku and Barham shot through the line and met Henry three yards into the backfield. Henry never stood a chance. And on another play that isn’t talked about as much, Barham blasted through the tight end and started tackling Henry while still engaged in the block. It was an incredible sight.
And that was a huge play. The Cowboys had just jumped ahead to take the lead, but they hadn’t shown any signs of slowing down the Ravens offense, so forcing a three-and-out midway through the fourth quarter felt like a complete shift in momentum.
Those plays were great, but there were so many times when the defense struggled and was constantly giving up big plays. They couldn’t set the edge, and the Ravens punished them. Designed or not, Lamar Jackson saw holes and took off. They repeatedly gave up big runs along the edge as defenders couldn’t keep runners contained to the inside. The defense gave up big passing plays in the secondary as defenders were late rotating. To be fair, a lot of this was put onthe team’s depleted secondary. That makes it tough, but failure to keep receivers from running free in open space ultimately was their demise.
And we can’t leave without talking about special teams. The Cowboys allowed a blocked FG when Terence Steele abandoned his blocking assignment to react to an edge rusher that appeared to jump early. We’ll never know if Aubrey would have nailed the field goal or not, but no points for Dallas and great field position for the Ravens.
Speaking of great field position, not once, but twice, Aubrey shanked a kickoff out of bounds. He is trying hard to dial in those squib kicks and it is creating issues for the returners, but it is creating issues for his own team when he is giving the opposing team the ball at the 40-yard line.
There are many things to be pleased with. Prescott continues to roll, and the defense continues to tease us by flashing its upside. But even amidst these showings, this team can’t do what they have failed to do in the past. Win at big moments. They had this game for the taking, but flamed out in the most Cowboys way. And the bad thing is a lot of this could have been avoided. Better play-calling at the goal line and more attention given to fend off the Ravens’ offensive strength would have put them over the top to come away with the win. Until they can show they are capable of that, they’ll always be the team that comes up a tad short.
