RIO DE JANEIRO – No way, no way on this great green earth, even here way down south of the equator, can a team do so much right, yet do so much wrong.
Dang, the Cowboys scored 31 points but lost the NFL Rio Game here on Sunday at Maracanã Stadium.
No way the Cowboys finally got their running game going, scoring two touchdowns on the ground and rushing for a season-high 148 yards behind Javonte Williams' 98, and lost the game.
No way Dak Prescott hooked up with CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens a combined 14 times for 194 yards and lost the game.
No way the Cowboys totaled 415 yards of offense, like 37 more than their opponent, andlost the game.
No way the Cowboys scored points on their first two possessions, stretching their streak of scoring on 12 of the last 14 possessions, and then on three of their last four in the game,driving 60 yards in nine plays on the final one to kick the game-tying field goal with but 7 seconds remaining, and lost the game with overtime seemingly poised to begin.
No way with any measure of common sense, with this game having teeter-tottered back and forth for those 59 minutes, 53 seconds, did Baltimore complete a 27-yard pass to wide receiver Zay Flowers going to the ground, and somehow these officials see the Ravens' sideline feverishly signaling for a timeout within a half second of the catch being completed, and referee John Hussey awarded 0:01 being put back on the clock.
On top of all that, after watching Ravens kicker Tyler Loop of Lucas, Texas, having gone to Lovejoy High School, struggle during his pregame warmups – frustrated to the point of taking his helmet off when missing from 45 and then missing from 57, yet making his second try, barely – kick the game-winning 56-yarder as time expired (we think), and more to my amazement on that in a minute.
And just like that, Ravens 34, Cowboys 31, before a highly entertained Maracanã crowd of 72,792 evenly divided fans, some watching American football in person for the first time in their lives.
Come on, seriously?
But let me count the ways why the now 1-2 Cowboys, landing at their DFW charter site right at 8:22 Monday morning, then having to clear around 150 people through customs before taking the bus ride back to The Star, meaning most likely arriving home no earlier than 10 a.m. and knowing they have a road trip this coming Sunday to Houston for a noon start, shot themselves repeatedly in the foot – no, wait, both feet – to allow the Ravens (2-1) to escape Rio with a victory.
Just can't, let me repeat, just can't on their first possession of the game, after the defense hands them the ball following a Ravens three-and-out, drive 62 yards into a first-and-goal at the 5-yard line, then second and third downs from the 1, and end up kicking a 28-yard field goal from the 10.
Even worse, when trailing 31-28, drive 63 yards in 1 minute and 7 seconds into a first-and-goal at the 2-yard line and wind up kicking a 23-yard consolation field goal with 7 seconds remaining when you're 2 yards away from putting a bow on victory No. 2.
An egregious transgression against this game of football that even these Brazilian neophytes to football likely understood – far worse than missing a goal kick in that more familiar game of football of theirs. Why, cleaning up their red zone woes of last year became a priority in training camp after only scoring touchdowns at a 56.7 percent rate in 2025. And seemingly in the first two games this season they were making headway, having scored six touchdowns in seven of those possessions.
Next, and shame on them, a screw-up on special teams. And when you have a kicker of the Pro Bowl caliber of Brandon Aubrey, able to kick 60-yarders like extra points, can't allow anunblocked defender to come lickety-split off the near edge to block his 59-yard attempt.
Now if you are scoring at home, combine the inability to score touchdowns in those two goal-to-go possessions, leaving four points on the field each time, and then wiping out potentially three more on the blocked field goal, that's leaving 11 points on the field. My goodness, they very well should have scored 42 points on what was expected to be a staunch Ravens D.
No way to become that Greatest Offense whatever.
Said Dak Prescott, "Yeah, frustrated. Frustrated as hell. Embarrassed. We don't call ourselves the best offense, GOTI, and get down in the 1-yard line and don't put it in."
And finally, this defense. Hasn't it always been this defense? And the frustrating part, even after continuing to lose defensive starters to injury – another starting safety in Jalen Thompson (hamstring, heading to IR) and then near the end of the fourth quarter another cornerback in Shavon Revel (sprained knee and ankle) – was that at times they came up with huge defensive stops.
Like forcing a field goal when Baltimore drove to a first-and-1 at the 13-yard line. Like putting on their big-boy pants with the Ravens driving to a first-and-goal at the 3. Dallas first stopped Derrick Henry a half-yard short from the 2-yard line, and then on fourth down from the 1, Jaishawn Barham stoned Henry for a 3-yard loss of all things.
And that was no accident because on Baltimore's next possession, after the Cowboys took a 28-24 lead, and the Ravens facing a third-and-1 at their own 49, here comes Barham again, this time dropping Henry for a 4-yard loss.
But in the end, same ol', same ol'. Oh, that blasted run defense. After giving up 347 yards rushing in the first two games combined, they allowed Baltimore to go for 192, though Henry needed 26 carries to rush for 89 yards, a respectable job of a 3.4 yards-per-carry average. Yet this just can't happen: Lamar Jackson rushing 6 times for 50 yards.
That's now opposing quarterbacks in three games totaling 172 yards rushing, and opponents totaling 539.
And the shame of all this is Barham had another good game: seven tackles and those two TFLs. Otito Ogbonnia pitched in with six tackles and one QB hit. Thought Quinnen Williams made his presence felt.
Still, this is a scary trend: After ranking 30th last year against the run, the Cowboys are still 30th after three games this season.
Here is the other thing, and this must improve in a hurry. No sacks for a second straight game. Only one QB hit on the official game stats. That means in three games, two sacks. That lack of pressure allowed Jackson to complete 15 of 20 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns, compiling a QB rating of 136.7. That means three quarterbacks have put up 100 QB ratings, and a third, Jayden Daniels, finished his first half at 99.1.
Now it's been two minutes, I lied. Got a bone to pick with the NFL. I'm officially sick and tired of being told the stadium clock and the TV clock evidently are not the official clock. Why is that? We can put a man on the moon, but we can't sync up time? Who's in charge of that time, anyway?
To me, hard to believe even if the official unnamed timer has a slow finger, that Jackson had time to complete a 27-yard pass to Flowers, his completed catch, meaning going to the ground with the ball, not just his knee hitting, that the clock had not run out. But on the all-22,the side judge is motioning a timeout called by the Ravens sideline following Reddy Steward'stackle of Flowers, thus ruling the ball dead, all of that in six seconds. Oh, that clock.
We need the truth, and to think NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was at the game. Didn't that play take place after the 2-minute break? Isn't the replay official supposed to be in charge of calling down reviews? Maybe he did, thinking no review was necessary, and why one second was put back on the clock. Would it not behoove the NFL to have at least taken a look, or did they think CBS was in a hurry to get to the video music awards following the game?
Who knew the Cowboys and Western Michigan would have something in common.
As we learned again in this game of American football, even as far away as Brazil, every dang second counts. And in the bitter end of this loss in Rio, the Cowboys learned this one lasttick to be vitally so.
