RIO DE JANEIRO – This one hurts. There's just no other way to say it.
I know our job is to be as objective as possible, but this one hits different because it was different. We took 10 hours to get here, bussed all over the city for a practice and walkthrough, couldn't leave the hotel, and then got to the game where we experienced every bit of emotion imaginable.
Think about it. There were times when it looked like the Cowboys might blow out the Ravens. Then the Ravens looked like they might blow out the Cowboys. Then the Cowboys might keep it close. Then they were in position to win the game. Then the Ravens seized the momentum. Then the Cowboys had time to tie it. No, wait, now win it. No, back to a tie again. Then the Ravens stole the win in the final seconds.
Might as well let Mike Tyson punch you right in the gut. That probably can't feel much worse than what the entire Cowboys Nation, players, coaches, staff and, yes, fans, is feeling right now.
Where do you start? Seriously, I wish I could use the excuse of, "I have no words," but that's hard to do when you're paid to come up with words for a living. But truthfully, it's probably been an hour since the ending, and I'm still in shock at how that entire game played out.
You've heard me use the rollercoaster reference thousands of times before, usually when talking about an entire season. Well, this entire game was one from start to finish. Just three hours filled with every range of emotion possible, but unfortunately, like some of the worst rollercoasters, it ended with nausea.
But here's the thing about this unreal 34-31 loss to the Ravens: It actually ended exactly how, and where, it started.
The first drive of the game saw the Cowboys pound the rock for the first time all season, and Javonte Williams was just beasting his way down the field. Then you get to the 1-yard line and ... you pass. And then you try to pass again, take a sack and settle for a field goal. I promise you I said this about four times in the first half: "If this game ends with the Cowboys losing by four points or fewer, that drive is going to haunt this team."
Well, guess what? How about we take it one step further?
Forget losing by three. How about getting down there at the very end of the game and basically having the exact same situation again? I couldn't help but think how ironic this was going to be.
Here are the Cowboys once again, this time at the 2-yard line after a pass-interference penalty. Surely, surely, they're going to learn from their mistake earlier in the game. I mean, this has to be Williams at least once because you have a timeout. And who knows? Maybe he gets another carry if it's fourth-and-goal and you're going for the win.
But the Cowboys opted, once again, not to run Javonte at the goal line. I'm not saying it's the same as not running Marshawn Lynch at the goal line in the Super Bowl, but the thought process is similar. And the Cowboys chose not to give Javonte the ball down there, not even once.
I couldn't get over the situation in the first quarter, firing off a few tweets about a guy averaging 7.3 yards per carry getting you down there, only for the Cowboys to go away from him. We've all touched a hot stove once before, but only a few people have ever touched it twice. Right? We learn from our mistakes.
Apparently, the Cowboys didn't.
And before you blame everything on Luke Schoonmaker's false-start penalty, just remember that the play he was flagged on wasn't a run either. The Cowboys were passing on that play anyway, so I'm not sure the plan was ever to run Javonte.
As the head coach and play-caller, it's fair to blame Brian Schottenheimer for that and plenty of other calls. In fact, he told the media after the game that he graded himself with an "F" as a play-caller. OK, so this isn't the final exam, but it was a pretty important test, one the Cowboys should have passed.
Unfortunately, the blame doesn't end with the play-calling. The game management as a whole was questionable. Now, I was on record saying I would've let the Ravens score much earlier in the process because I thought it was inevitable, and you could save both time and timeouts. That way of thinking will always be debated, so I'm not really going to harp on that decision.
But what I really hated was the decision for Aubrey to boot the ball out of the end zone, something they hadn't done once all game. Now, with seven seconds left, you decide to kick it deep and put the ball at the 35-yard line? I don't agree, and here's why.
This team has an entire analytics department. It's become a huge part of football these days. I don't know the exact numbers, but I can promise you this: The probability of the Ravens returning a kickoff 95 to 100 yards for a touchdown is much, much lower than Lamar Jackson hitting Zay Flowers on a 27-yard pass against a secondary that was about to call Darren Woodson and Terence Newman out of retirement because of all the injuries.
As soon as the ball sailed out of the end zone, I looked at the scoreboard and saw the Ravens still had a timeout. I knew that could be a problem. Sure enough, it was.
I get it. Second-guessing is part of football. We never second-guess the fourth-down calls that work or the decisions to punt and play field position. But these didn't work. And what makes it worse is they didn't work earlier in the game either. Yet the end result was still the same.
All in all, this was shaping up to be a fantastic trip, an experience of a lifetime, culminating with a game for the ages. Maybe one day I'll look back on it that way. Right now, though, it just feels like the game in which the Cowboys were right on the edge of claiming an unbelievable win, only to let it slip away.
I didn't think it was possible to make a 10-hour flight feel any longer than it already is. But I have a feeling we're about to find out.
