The honeymoon period ended last week for Jesse Minter and the staff in Baltimore. A fourth-quarter collapse for the first loss of the season was all too close to losses of seasons past that the organization was hoping to leave behind. Now the Ravens travel to Brazil for a high-octane matchup against the Dallas Cowboys as the NFL plays in Rio de Janeiro for the first time.
The Ravens hope to travel back to Baltimore 2-1 with the first NFL win in Rio. Here are some keys to the game.
Utilize your weapons
In Week 2, while
missing Zay Flowers, over half of the Ravens’ plays went to Rashod Bateman, Mark Andrews, and Derrick Henry. It’s not a terrible formula. Bateman finished with 88 yards and a touchdown, Andrews was a clean safety valve and finished with 49 yards, and Henry ran for 4.3 yards per carry. The only issue is it didn’t end with a win, and the offense stalled. They only had eight total drives, including the last drive searching for a miracle with no timeouts. Against the Cowboys, those players are going to have to be relied on again, specifically speaking about Bateman and Henry. Those are the two best weapons right now.
But the Ravens have to spread the ball more. Devontez Walker had the biggest play of the day against the Saints with a long 47-yard bomb. He wasn’t targeted again. Rookie tight end Matt Hibner has been talked up a lot this offseason and showed explosiveness during the preseason that the veteran tight ends don’t have. LaJohntay Wester is electric with the ball in his hands and could stress a defense when in motion if given the chance. The Cowboys are likely to key in heavily on Henry and give Bateman their best cover guy and some extra shading. The Ravens need to have other answers ready.
Pressure Dak Prescott
The Cowboys offense is a high-flying unit starring one of the best wide receiver duos in the NFL with CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. Captained by Dak Prescott, it’s expected to be one of the best offenses in the NFL this year, and they looked like it against the Washington Commanders last week. Prescott 26/31 for 279 yards and four touchdowns, with 179 of those yards and all four of the touchdowns coming when he was kept clean. Pressure didn’t really knock Prescott off his game against the Commanders, but he wasn’t as good. Against the New York Giants in Week 1, however, Prescott went 0/8 when pressured nine times during the game. Historically, that’s been the key to containing Prescott.
The Cowboys are missing their best offensive lineman, left guard Tyler Smith, and the weakest point on the line has been right tackle Terence Steele, according to PFF. Just like the Saints game, the Ravens can expect Trey Hendrickson to receive extra attention while he lines up over the left tackle. That’s going to put the onus on whoever lines up opposite Hendrickson, Mike Green or Tavius Robinson, both of whom had a sack last week. The other aspect will be interior pressure. The Ravens are expecting to get Nnamdi Madubuike back for this one. He’ll be on a pitch count, and I imagine most of his pitches will be pass rush attempts. It’s the defensive line we dreamed of this summer: Trey Hendrickson, Nnamdi Madubuike, Travis Jones, and Mike Green getting home by just rushing four. Be on the lookout for Aeneas Peebles rushing the passer too, next to Madubuike. He’s been winning his rushes at a high clip this year so far.
The Ravens secondary simply won’t be able to hold up against Lamb and Pickens for extended periods time and time again. The Ravens pass rush knocking Prescott off his spot and giving him problems all day will be imperative to the defense having success.
Run Henry
I know I just said before to spread the ball around and utilize the weapons on this team and that is true. But we can’t ignore how bad the Cowboys’ run defense has been this year. They are currently in the bottom three in the NFL in rushing yards allowed per game. And now Derrick Henry is coming down the track. Henry wrecked this team in 2024, and the Cowboys are going to be desperate to not let that repeat and fix their poor run defense this season. They are going to load the box, key in on Henry, and do everything in their power to ensure that he is not the reason they lose.
The Ravens can’t fall into that trap. Henry could start slow, maybe only getting two or three yards a carry. He might even finish the game this way. He shouldn’t finish this game with fewer than 20 carries. The Ravens have to keep the Cowboys honest and keep plunging Henry throughout the game. It should hopefully make space for Lamar Jackson to run; the Cowboys have given up a ton of quarterback rushing yards, and give the passing game space to operate while the Cowboys load the box on them.
