FRISCO, Texas – There isn't a lot of time to do it with a road game against the Texans coming up next Sunday, but the Cowboys will have to watch back a difficult 34-31 loss to the Ravens in Rio de Janeiro.
It will likely not be an easy film session. From self-inflicted wounds to missed opportunities at crucial moments, Dallas had their chances to head back to the United States with a victory.
Instead, they sit at 1-2 with two games in the next nine days against Houston and the Buccaneers. Both teams have yet to win a game.
Before we look ahead to next week, let's take a look back at Week 3 on this week's Tape Talk:
What happened on third and goal late in the fourth quarter?
Let's set the table here first. On second and goal from the two-yard line, Cowboys TE Luke Schoonmaker was called for a false start penalty to set up second and seven. After pressure forced Dak Prescott to scramble and pick up two yards, setting up third and goal from the five with 14 seconds left as Brian Schottenheimer called his third and final timeout of the game.
Dak Prescott's throw to George Pickens on that third and goal was a throw away, according to both Schottenheimer and Prescott in the postgame press conference, as it sailed high over Pickens' head. As the play develops, it looks like Prescott is waiting to see how the corner Nate Wiggins plays the route. Early on, Wiggins and Pickens are side by side and there's no separation, which is what prompted Prescott to throw the ball away.
In retrospect, Prescott said after the game he wishes he would've taken the extra tick to see if Pickens popped free on his comeback to the pylon, which he did. It looked like Pickens may have extended his arms a bit at the top of the route, which would've been interesting to see if it would be called offensive pass interference had the ball been thrown his way. Regardless, the opportunity could have been there, and it's one that both Schottenheimer and Prescott want back.
A tough break in the secondary
After coming into the game banged up across the board, things unfortunately didn't get better for the Cowboys over the course of the night with Jalen Thompson (hamstring) and Shavon Revel (knee) both suffering injuries. So Dallas had to lean on their depth even more as the game went along, which is a difficult ask against a two-time MVP in Lamar Jackson.
Ravens TE Matt Hibner comes across in motion on this play, which puts him, Josh Cuevas, and Mark Andrews, all tight ends, on the same side of the field. Dallas has two players in the secondary, Caelen Carson and Markquese Bell, on that side of the line and Caleb Downs is calling out the motion and coming to help in the middle of the field, where he takes Mark Andrews.
At the snap, Cuevas goes into the flat and both Bell and Carson go out there to take him. Because of that, Hibner is left wide open at the goal line and Jackson is able to fit it in between Jaishawn Barham's extended arms for the touchdown. Carson tried to recover late, but was a step or two behind, and the Ravens were able to take the lead back late.
The kids are going to be alright
There's a lot of difficult film for the Cowboys to watch in this game. That said, there were still some positives that Dallas can take from it, especially from their young players. Plus, Dallas was able to limit (I can't say slow down as the Ravens were still able to rush for 192 yards as a unit) Derrick Henry to 89 yards on 26 carries (3.4 ypc) and stuffed him 7 times, the most he's been stuffed since joining the Ravens.
Here's one of them, and it's one of the better plays of the entire game from Dallas' defense. On the left side of the line, Otito Ogbonnia and Rashan Gary do their jobs of plugging up two gaps for Derrick Henry to run through. From there, the outside is the only other option, and Jaishawn Barham and Caleb Downs are all over it.
Barham is able to avoid the lead blocker and get the hit on Henry in the backfield, which is enough to slow him down and allow Downs and the rest of the Cowboys cavalry to bring down Henry and bring up a fourth down, where Baltimore had to punt.
