RIO DE JANEIRO — As far as the environment at Maracanã Stadium and electric atmosphere provided by NFL fans in Brazil goes, they both earn a 10 out of 10, no notes. The Dallas Cowboys, on tdfhe other hand, have a list of notes they're taking back to Texas after a gut-wrenching 34-31 loss against the Baltimore Ravens.
Brian Schottenheimer's offense got off to a fast start, but it could've been faster — forced to settle for a field goal after driving to the Ravens' 10-yard line following a three-and-out forced by Christian Parker's defense. They'd get a touchdown on the next possession to force a 10-0 lead, but the Ravens would fight back to make it a multi-possession lead at the half.
The Cowboys climbed out of that hole to retake the lead, and it was game on from there, but self-inflicted wounds ultimately led to them being forced to watch the Ravens' game-winning field goal sail through the uprights as the clock hit all zeroes in Rio.
"At the end of the day, I just really just feel bad for [the players]," said Schottenheimer after the loss that pushed the Cowboys to 1-2 on the season. " You know, we played hard, we fought back, after a long trip, and we had our chance to win. Unfortunately, we didn't get it done."
He went on to explain the thought process when Dak Prescott successfully drove the Cowboys down the field on their final possession to put Dallas on the Ravens' two-yard line with four downs to win the game.
The possession, inclusive of a false start penalty by Luke Schoonmaker, ended in a third down throwaway by Prescott that Schottenheimer owns as "overcoaching" the All-Pro quarterback in that scenario, taking the field goal versus potentially forcing the throw. It's a series that will undoubtedly haunt the Cowboys for some time to come — so much so that Prescott didn't want to talk about it immediately after the game, needing time to process it.
Schottenheimer did speak about it, though.
"Yeah, we thought we were going to score a touchdown," he said. "We thought we were gonna score a touchdown and move the ball really well down there. We've got to find a way to punch it in. I've got to call some better plays to get it in.
"... So proud of this team, this group of young men. They laid it all on the line."
Considering how many players went down with injury in Rio, Schottenheimer has a point, and it is unfortunately something else the Cowboys may have to account for when they get home as they try to pivot toward traveling to South Texas to face the Houston Texans in seven days.
"I know we got beat to hell," he said. "We got beat up pretty good. And the next man up was real tonight."
At the end of the day, the Cowboys showed a lot of resilience, but it was overpowered by errant mistakes that continually undercut their efforts at the most critical points in the game. This loss doesn't feel like most others, for a variety of reasons, but Schottenheimer loves the effort displayed in front of an international crowd that brought the energy themselves as well.
And, in spades, to say the very least.
"I don't ever question these guys, man. Watch the way they play," said Schottenheimer. "This team doesn't have quit in them, but they're hurting right now. I'm hurting. I felt like we made enough plays to go win the game, but we didn't. So we give Baltimore credit for that.
"I heard from the guys in the locker room, they put a lot into this. It's a long trip, but, I mean, no one cares."
The win was what mattered most for the Cowboys on their latest business trip, and now they'll have to adjust quickly after a 10-hour flight home. They'll need to rest and recover, and then put everything into rebounding to try and move back to .500 on the season.
"They'll get two days off, and [we] have got to get right to work as a staff," said Schottenheimer. "I'm just disappointed for the men in that locker room because of the type of men they are and how they work, and when you come up short, it hurts.
"... No one can say that they called or played a perfect game. No one. And so, to me, at the end of the day, we all look at ourselves first. We pull our bootstraps up, we get our asses back to Frisco, and we go back to work."
Again, no notes for Rio, but plenty for the disappointed Cowboys.
