The Dallas Cowboys came out strong against the Baltimore Ravens in Brazil by building an early lead, and even after falling behind, came back to almost win it. Even with the loss, here are two good things we learned in Rio.
Jaishawn Barham is an absolute stud
One of the biggest bright spots for the Cowboys in their loss to the Ravens was the play of linebacker Jaishawn Barham. He ended up with seven tackles with four being solo, and two of them were for a loss. When the Cowboys put together a goal line stand against the Ravens in the fourth
quarter, Barham was at his best by combining on two consecutive tackles and then putting up a solo stop on Derrick Henry for a three-yard loss on 4th and goal from the one-yard line.
Barham also stopped Henry along with Caleb Downs on a 4th and 1 early in the game. He was very decisive and played downhill all game long, which is exactly what you want from a middle linebacker. After struggling in his first game as a rookie against the New York Giants, Barham has been lights out for two consecutive weeks. He is settling in just fine, and he’s becoming one of the most important players on defense for Dallas.
The Cowboys found balance in their offensive attack
In the first two games, the Cowboys struggled to get the run game going. Williams only had 71 yards on 24 carries in the first two weeks, and as a team, they were only averaging 67.5 yards per game. Against the Ravens, Williams had 98 yards on 19 carries, and the team ran for 148 yards total.
Prescott was able to hook up with CeeDee Lamb seven times for 112 yards. After only amassing 68 yards in the first two weeks, George Pickens hauled in seven passes for 82 yards with four of them moving the chains for first downs. This is the type of balance that the Cowboys need to keep opposing defenses honest so that they can pick them apart. They’ll need more of that in this next stretch of winnable games as they try to improve on their 1-2 record.
