FRISCO, Texas – As the Cowboys prepare to head to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for Week 3 against the Ravens, Dallas' defense has another tall, and quick, task on their hands.
Ravens QB and two-time league MVP Lamar Jackson awaits in Brazil, a difficult challenge for any team because of his ability to break contain and make explosive plays with his legs. The Cowboys defense understands the task that lies ahead in containing Jackson.
"We all know what it is," Cowboys OLB Donovan Ezeiruaku said. "You guys know. We know as players the type of guy he is. Somebody who can throw the ball, but also run the ball at a very high level. It's easier to say than to do, but our job is to go out there and go do. That's what we're tasked with."
In two career games against the Cowboys, Jackson has rushed for a touchdown in each game and combined for 181 yards on the ground.
In the last two weeks, the Cowboys have allowed the most rushing yards to quarterbacks in the NFL (126) on 19 carries, good for 6.6 yards per carry. Dallas has gone up against Jaxson Dart and Jayden Daniels in those two games, how do they achieve the goal of limiting Jackson's legs?
"Just being disciplined," Cowboys DT Kenny Clark said. "Communication, just understanding our rush lanes, playing with extension, powering offensive linemen and just restricting those gaps so you can't get through. But the main thing is just staying disciplined and communicating."
Getting pressure hasn't necessarily been the problem for Dallas' defense, it's getting the quarterback down to the ground that has evaded them. How do they turn pressures into sacks?
"Once you get to the level of the quarterback, instead of focusing on getting a big hit on him or lunging at him, gather your feet and just get your body on him and get him down," Clark said. "A sack is going to be a sack regardless of if you get a big hit or not. That's our main focus. We're doing a good job at getting there, getting quarterbacks off the spot, now we've got to play with our extension, be a little bit more greedy retracing and doing all that stuff, getting off blocks and making sure we get the guy down."
Ezeiruaku is the team's leader in pressures on the quarterback through two games with nine. He's ready for those to become sacks.
"It's very frustrating, especially being my hardest critic," Ezeiruaku said of his pressures that haven't become sacks. "That's just something that was emphasized especially this week. Even today in practice, that was the biggest emphasis for me as well as the rest of the outside linebacker."
Dallas' work will be cut out for them with Jackson on the ground, but Ezeiruaku pointed out how impressive Jackson is a passer as well.
"How versatile he is," Ezeiruaku said when asked what he admired about Jackson. "How he's honed is as being a quarterback who can sit in the pocket, take hits, deliver big shots down the field. But at the same time, we all know what it is, he can run that ball too. That's something that's very admirable. It's a different beast when you got to go up against it and you're preparing and locking in throughout the week."
And if Jackson isn't able to run the ball, the Ravens also have 6'3, 252 pound RB Derrick Henry by his side. That combination speaks for itself.
"It is very unique," Ezeiruaku said. "For a guy who's probably bigger than me, playing running back, you've got to take out the legs, that's the only way to stop a guy like that from running the ball. Easier said than done like it is with Lamar, but it'll be a really good challenge."
The Cowboys will be back on the practice fields preparing for that challenge on Wednesday and Thursday, and depart for Brazil on Thursday to get face Jackson, Henry and the rest of the Ravens offense.
1 – Terence Steele – The only offensive lineman in the group, Steele caught a TD pass from Dak against Washington in the 2021 season.
1 – Brevyn Spann-Ford– With a new extension recently signed, BSF should get plenty of chances to rise higher on this list.
1 – Sean McKeon– His only career touchdown occurred on a pass from Dak in 2021.
1 – Ventell Bryant– Caught his only touchdown of his career with the Cowboys in 2019 from Dak.
1 – Devin Smith– He hauled in a 51-yard bomb from Dak against Washington in 2019.
1 – Geoff Swaim– His first career touchdown was a 3-yard score against the Lions from Dak. Swaim would finish his career with seven career TDs, mostly with the Titans.
1 – Rod Smith– In what appeared to be a quick slant over the middle, Smith scored his only touchdown with the Cowboys on an 81-yard play against the Giants in 2017, the fifth-longest of Dak's career.
1 – Hunter Luepke – His versatility keeps him on the field in many roles, from fullback to tight end and occasional running back. Luepke caught a 1-yard TD against the Panthers in 2025.
1 – James Hanna– His only touchdown of his career came from Dak in a 2017 game against the Rams.
1 – Gavin Escobar– Escobar's final TD catch of his career came from Dak in 2016 against the Browns.
1 – Corey Clement– In his only season with the Cowboys, Clement played all 17 games in 2021, scoring his only touchdown of the season on a pass from Dak.
2 – Noah Brown– After spending the first four years of his career fighting for playing time, especially on offense, Brown developed into a target in the passing game, catching two of his six career touchdowns from Dak.
2 – Malik Turner– Turner finished his career with four touchdowns, including three in the 2021 season – two of which came from Dak.
2 – Luke Schoonmaker – Although he's done most of his work at the line of scrimmage as a blocker, Schoonmaker did catch two touchdowns as a rookie from Dak.
2 – Allen Hurns – His six-year career included 25 touchdowns, including at least two in every season. During his one year in Dallas, Hurns caught a couple scores from Prescott in 2018.
2 – Peyton Hendershot – After scoring on a 2-yard touchdown earlier in the season, Hendershot reeled in a 20-yard pass from Dak against Jacksonville in 2022.
3 – Javonte Williams– While the majority of his work is in the ground game, Williams has proven to be a reliable target out of the backfield, even scoring a touchdown already in the season from Dak.
3 – Terrance Williams– The veteran caught 20 touchdowns in his career, including four in 2016 during Dak's rookie season.
3 – Randall Cobb – After catching 41 touchdowns – mostly from Aaron Rodgers – during his career with the Packers, Cobb made a one-year stop in Dallas in 2019, catching three TDs from Dak.
3 – Tavon Austin – A dynamic return specialist, Austin also occasionally made some big plays in the passing game, catching three touchdowns.
4 – Ryan Flournoy – After recently signing a contract extension before the season, Flournoy is expected to be among the top three receivers in Dallas this year and beyond and should be able to climb this list.
4 – Tony Pollard – A 1,000-yard runner for two straight years, Pollard was also dangerous out of the backfield, catching four TDs from Dak.
4 – Jalen Tolbert – He finished his Cowboys career with 10 touchdown catches, but just four from Dak.
5 – Rico Dowdle – Another hard-nosed runner who did most of his work on the ground, but Dowdle was a threat in the passing game, catching five scores.
6 – KaVontae Turpin – The speedy return specialist has been more than a Pro Bowl kick returner, catching six scores from Dak, including an 86-yarder at Washington in 2025.
6 – Brice Butler – One of Butler's touchdowns occurred in the 2017 regular-season finale when Butler scored the game's only points in a 6-0 win at Philadelphia.
7 – Cedrick Wilson – A player who benefited from offseason work in Prescott's "Dak-yard," Wilson caught seven TD passes from Dak, including six in the 2021 season.
8 – Blake Jarwin – Just like Dak has been overly successful against the Giants, Jarwin can say the same. Of his eight touchdown catches from Dak, five occurred against NYG.
9 – George Pickens – With nine TD catches in 2025, Pickens became just the second player (CeeDee Lamb) to record at least nine in a season with Dak.
9 – Brandin Cooks – In just a short period of time, Cooks and Dak formed a great duo, especially with eight touchdowns alone in 2023.
11 – Jason Witten – While Dak and Witten connected on the opposite ends of their careers, the quarterback learned right away how valuable a tight end can be in the red zone.
11 – Ezekiel Elliott – One of Dak's longest TD passes of his career occurred on one of his shortest throws as Zeke turned a screen into an 83-yard score in their rookie season of 2016.
12 – Cole Beasley - While he started his career with Tony Romo, Beasley finished his time in Dallas with 23 touchdown catches. So the dozen he caught from Dak are the most from any QB.
14 – Dez Bryant – Dak found Dez in the end zone eight times in 2016 for a combination that would eventually include the Cowboys' all-time leader in TD catches and passes.
15 – Dalton Schultz – After Witten, Schultz stepped into the consistent role as Dak's trusty tight end, with a career-high eight TD receptions in 2021.
16 – Michael Gallup – The only starting quarterback Gallup played with consistently, Dak threw him the ball for 16 of his 21 career scores.
16 – Jake Ferguson – With two more last week in Dak's record-setting game, Ferguson moved into third place and first among tight ends for Prescott's TDs.
22 – Amari Cooper – Right away after the midseason trade in 2018, Cooper and Dak established quite the rapport, racking up a TD connection in nearly every other-game of their time together.
37 – CeeDee Lamb – It was only fitting that Lamb hauled in Dak's record-breaking touchdown in a Week 2 win over the Commanders. Lamb not only has the most TDs by far, but also had the longest of Dak's career with a 92-yarder vs. Detroit in 2023.
