If the goal of this game was to give the fans of Brazil an exciting taste of NFL football, the Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens certainly delivered. The back-and-forth battle between two equal opponents came down to the final second, literally, with the Ravens pulling out an improbable 34-31 win.
Offensively, Dak Prescott was again masterful, rallying his troops to tie the score on a late field goal, the game seemingly headed to overtime. The quarterback completed 25 of 40 passes for 276 yards and a touchdown for a 91.2 passer rating. CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens finished with 112 and 82 receiving yards, respectively, to keep the aerial attack firing.
And Dallas finally found a little life in its ground game. Javonte Williams rushed for 98 yards, while the team as a whole finished with 148, its first time this season to top the century mark.
In the end, though, it wasn't enough. While the Cowboys defense made some memorable plays, including taking down Derrick Henry three times from inside the 5-yard line early in the fourth quarter, they again struggled overall to stop the run. Henry finished with 89 yards, with Baltimore rushing for 192 overall.
That effort, of course, also included the scrambling of quarterback Lamar Jackson, who totaled 50 yards on the ground but was held to 186 passing yards. He completed 75% of his passes with two touchdowns for a 136.7 rating.
Dallas outgained its opponent, 415 yards to 378, and narrowly held the time of possession advantage, 30:38 to 29:22. But the Cowboys couldn't get the upper hand where it counted most, on the scoreboard.
First Quarter
The Cowboys jumped out to a quick 10-0 start, putting up points on each of their first two possessions. Prescott and company were helped out by the team's defense, as the unit forced a three-and-out on the Ravens' opening series and then stuffed Henry on fourth-and-1 at the Baltimore 30-yard line on the opponent's next try.
That in turn led to the Cowboys traveling 57 yards down to the Baltimore 1-yard line on their first possession, although unable to cross the goal line on two tries, Dallas had to settle for a Brandon Aubrey 28-yard field goal. However, gifted prime field position to start their second possession, the Cowboys needed only five plays to get into the end zone. Again they lined up at the 1-yard line, but this time Javonte Williams got the call and muscled off right guard for the touchdown.
Unfortunately, the Ravens offense finally found its rhythm on their third try. Jackson ran around the right end for 21 yards and then, two snaps later, targeted Zay Flowers for a 22-yard gain to the Dallas 20. Henry took over from there, rushing three straight times to reach the end zone and narrow the score to 10-7.
Second Quarter
With that Baltimore score, the momentum seemed to settle comfortably behind the Ravens, as they got the ball back early in the second frame and quickly scored once again to take the lead. The big blow during the 89-yard drive came on third-and-11 at Baltimore's 48 when Jackson went deep to Devontez Walker. While the wideout couldn't make the catch, safety Markquese Bell was called for pass interference, giving the Ravens the ball at the Dallas 3-yard line. Henry then rumbled around the right end for the score.
The Cowboys' troubles continued. Their turn now came on fourth-and-1, but like Henry, Williams was also stuffed, giving Baltimore good field position at the Dallas 43-yard line. That led to a 27-yard field goal for the Ravens.
Even worse for the Cowboys, safety Jalen Thompson suffered a hamstring injury during the series and had to leave the game, weakening an already banged-up position without Malik Hooker and P.J. Locke.
Dallas got the ball back with 4:44 remaining in the half, which was plenty of time to get into Aubrey's range. The Cowboys used 11 plays to go 45 yards to the Baltimore 20, where the steady kicker split the uprights to pull Dallas closer, 17-13, at the break.
Third Quarter
The Cowboys proved to be their own worst enemy early in the third quarter. Twice they crossed the 50-yard line into enemy territory, but were unable to come away with any points. The first drive came to an abrupt halt when tight end Jake Ferguson corralled a shuffle pass before coughing up a fumble that the Ravens recovered at their own 25-yard line. That was followed on the next series by Dallas reaching Baltimore's 41, but a potential first down was called back due to a holding penalty, and then Aubrey's 59-yard field goal attempt was blocked.
Not taking advantage of those opportunities was surely going to come back to bite the Cowboys, and soon enough it did. The Ravens needed only four plays to go the needed 51 yards after Henry got things started with a 29-yard run. Jackson went on to wrap up the series with a 4-yard strike to Chris Monroe in the back of the end zone to up Baltimore's lead.
Desperately needing a score to keep pace, the Cowboys did just that on their next possession. Prescott engineered a six-play, 67-yard drive that saw him connect with Pickens for 19 yards, with a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty tacked on. He then connected with a wide-open Ferguson, who crossed the goal line for a 19-yard touchdown.
Dallas made the decision to go for the two-point conversion, and Prescott threw a low pass to Lamb, who adjusted to make the catch and bring the deficit to just three points, 24-21.
Fourth Quarter
But Baltimore was again on the move as the clock ticked over into the final 15 minutes, with Jackson throwing a 31-yard pass to Rashod Bateman to end the third quarter and Flowers running around the left end for a 20-yard pickup to start the fourth.
And then the defense came up huge. The Ravens had a first-and-goal at the Dallas 3-yard line, but Jackson was stopped on a 1-yard loss, and Henry was stood up for gains of only 2 and 1, setting up a fourth-and-1 on the doorstep. That's when rookie linebacker Jaishawn Barham sliced through the line and dropped Henry for a 3-yard loss.
With the crowd now in a frenzy and the momentum having swung back to the Cowboys, Prescott took his team the distance – a 96-yard drive to pay dirt. The quarterback threw deep to Lamb down the left sideline for a 49-yard gain and then saw tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford haul in a pass and bully his way for 19 more yards. The drive finished out with KaVontae Turpin running around the left end for 9 yards to put the Cowboys back in front, 28-24.
But with 5:45 left in the game, and after the Ravens methodically marched down the field, the Dallas defense needed to come up with one more goal-line stand. This time, despite their best efforts, they couldn't get it done. Baltimore needed three cracks at it to get into the end zone, but on third-and-goal at the 2-yard line, Jackson flicked a pass to tight end Matt Hibner for the touchdown and the lead.
Not helping matters was that only 90 seconds now remained on the clock. But that's when Prescott went to work. He completed three passes for 36 yards and scrambled twice for another 9 yards, while also being helped by a pass interference call that set Dallas up at the Baltimore 2-yard line. The Cowboys couldn't punch it in, but Aubrey was good on the 23-yarder with 7 seconds left to tie the score.
Overtime seemed all but assured … and then disaster struck.
From his 35-yard line, Jackson threw a 27-yard pass to Flowers to the Dallas 38-yard line, and the Ravens were able to call time out with 1 second left on the clock. Out came kicker Tyler Loop, who slipped his boot just inside the left upright for a 56-yard field goal.
And just like that, heartbreak, the Cowboys losing, 34-31.
